This book won SO MANY awards! The Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award have only been collectively won by two titles - this book and Holes. I loved Holes so, obviously, going in I had expectations. Annnnnnd, meh. It was actually one of my three lowest rated books last year (not number one - I was too frustrated with another) possibly tied for second worst.
The story is billed as a coming of age story (three days?), I'm not sure about this but I can agree with it being realistic fiction. Our titular character lives in the Appalachians and is in his early teen years. He is convinced that his family's home is in danger due to mining activities, but he cannot decide if it is time to leave or not. He meets two people that help him in making a decision, a man collecting the musical traditions of the mountains and a teenaged girl traveling on her own. The ending is interesting and complex but not worth the journey we took to get there.
Many covers show M.C. sitting atop his pole. It seems like it will be really important at first, but outside of some possible symbolism (rising above hardship, isolation, seeing the world - take your pick) it doesn't feature too prominently. Overall, this is one I'd recommend skipping to anyone that isn't a completist.
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