I read Appalachian Daughter by Mary Jane Salyers last month and I highly recommend the book. It was a short, fast, interesting read. I happened upon it randomly on Kindle Unlimited and I am so glad I decided to read it.
Maggie Campbell lives on a farm in Campbell Hollow, a narrow mountain valley in East Tennessee. Maggie Martin is the oldest of eight children and her family struggles to make ends meet. At the end of eighth grade Maggie begins to dream of a different life. She wants to escape her hometown one day and make her own way in life. While working hard throughout high school Maggie continues to help her family out. Her mother, Corie May, is extremely strict and Maggie strives to fit in at high school, with all of Corie May’s rules. She turns to find support in her father, Ray, who is much more easy going than Corie May. This novel follows Maggie through high school as she tries to find herself while also trying to be the person her mother wants her to be.
This novel was really interesting to me and a very good story. I liked that it was a coming of age novel, but it started with Maggie in eighth grade and the book ended when she graduated high school. When you are in high school it feels so important at the time and I liked that this novel was able to depict that. When you are at the age of 14-18 there is a lot of change and a lot of big decisions and I think people don’t take it seriously because they think kids of that age are too young to make decisions or understand what they want. Maggie was trying so hard to please her mom while also trying to figure out who she was. Even though this is a historical fiction novel, I think a lot of kids in high school today could relate to Maggie and I think this book is a good read for that age range.
I gave this book 3.5/5 stars. I thought it was well written, there were a lot of strong characters, and most of all, for me, it was very realistic and relatable. I would highly recommend this novel. It was short and really didn’t take me long to read at all. I think even if you don’t really enjoy historical fiction you would enjoy this novel!
Lotuskey Poetry 