Wrestle The Mountain (Pitt Golden Triangle Books)

By Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Book Overview

Even at eleven, Jed knew he didn't want to work in the coal mines like his father and the four generations before him. The mines provided a meager subsistence for the families of Tin Creek, West Virginia, but they also crippled and took lives.

Jed dreamed of being a wood carver--and he had the talent for it. He hoped his pa would understand, but sometimes he felt that talking with "Big Tate" was like yelling at the mountain. "You're the only son I got," Jed's father told him. "If it ain't to be the mines, it's got to be somethin' awful good."

With the encouragement of his teacher and the help of his aunt, Jed sets out to find his own path. A path that might lead to steady, safe work under the open sky--and to peace with his father.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0822957906
• ISBN13: 9780822957904
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

A compelling and heart-told story

Set in the coal mines of West Virginia, Wrestle the Mountain is an entertaining "coming of age" novel. Jed Jefferson Tate is an eleven-year-old boy who yearns for a better life than the constant struggle for survival that his father faces in the mines. With help from his teacher and his aunt, Jed must somehow find his own path. Then when a natural disaster puts lives in danger, everything changes! Wrestle The Mountain is a compelling and heart-told story.