Light Comes to Shadow Mountain by Toni Buzzeo

In Light Comes to Shadow Mountain, a young girl is determined to bring electricity to her Kentucky home through the Rural Electrification Project.

Light Comes to Shadow Mountain by Toni Buzzio. Holiday House, 2024, 272 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-14

The Kentucky mountains have been shrouded in shadow since time began, and for many of its residents, that’s how it should be. But it’s 1937 and folks in the city have been able to enjoy clean, steady light from electricity for decades. When news comes of the Rural Electrification Administration’s plan to string wires in her neck of the woods, Cora Mae Tipton is thrilled. As is her best friend Ceilly. Both girls pine for light to read into the night—maybe even study for the entrance exam to the settlement high school after eighth grade.

Cora’s mother, however, is dead-set against poles and clearances disturbing the ageless ecosystem. But then, it seems Mommy is against anything Cora wants to do, especially since her big sister Ida was taken by the flu last year. Since then, it seems the girl can’t do anything right.

Yet there has to be a way to get enough neighbors to sign on to the local electric co-op, the first step to getting the REA to electrify their mountain. It’s only $5 to join and $3 dollars a month thereafter, but money is always in short supply, especially now. How can the girls raise the start-up fee, as well as convince these stubborn mountain people that progress isn’t a bad thing?

The first-person narrative is sometimes jarred by over-expository dialogue, but sparkles with Appalachian detail and colloquial metaphors. It’s a human story of perseverance and overcoming, not just outward obstacles but also inward faults. If young readers finish the book and turn off the lamp with gratitude for everyday miracles like electricity, that’s all to the good.

Bottom Line: A heartfelt historical novel with relatable characters and worthy themes.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Fiction Reviews: Echo Mountain, Someplace to Call Home, Turtle in Paradise, and Moon over Manifest are stories of kids weathering hardship during the Great Depression.
• Nonfiction Reviews: During the 1930s, electricity came to the west with The Wild River and the Great Dam, photographers fanned across the USA in Picturing a Nation, and The Forgotten Man presents an alternative history of the Great Depression in graphic-novel form.

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