They say the pity of youth is that it's wasted on the young. Since we're well into our thirties and because we love the stories of Virginia Hamilton we must agree. Before motherhood descended upon us we could curl up in a corner with "Zeely" or "The Planet of Junior Brown" and cry all alone remembering … wishing … hoping about a childhood of our dreams. Now we gather child, dog and gerbils (after we have extracted their promise not to chew the book) around us on the couch, under the quilt, with a big bowl of popcorn and share "M. C. Higgins, the Great." Actually we're proud to share Virginia Hamilton with our family. They should know the good things.

M. C. Higgins is a very nice dude. He's just beginning to recognize girls as different from boys and basically worthy of kissing. But M. C. also has come into a recognition of responsibility. His family lives on Sarah's Mountain which, because of strip mining, is in danger of being deluged by the waste. M. C. doesn't quite understand that strip mining will forever change the countryside he has grown so used to but he does know his way of life is in danger. He dreams and ultimately plans a way to save his mountain….

Into M. C.'s and [his best friend] Ben's life comes Lurhetta, a girl who works all year during school so that she can roam the countryside in the summer. She is, as neither Ben nor M. C. are even likely to know, free. But with freedom comes always a price. The ability to take care of yourself, to follow your own wishes also compels you to travel alone. M. C. can leave Sarah's Mountain, can leave his stubborn father, can be free from watching his younger brothers and sisters but he will also be without roots. His great-grandmother Sarah had traveled to this mountain with a baby on her hip and the hounds of the slavemaster at her heels some hundred years ago. Could he, should he really turn that land over to those who only see the coal beneath … not the love … the sacrifice … the history the hill represents?… Mayo Cornelius Higgins makes the only decision a truly great person could make.

Once again Virginia Hamilton creates a world and invites us in. "M. C. Higgins, the Great" is not an adorable book, not a lived-happily-ever-after kind of story. It is warm, humane and hopeful and does what every book should do—creates characters with whom we can identify and for whom we care…. Virginia Hamilton has joined the forces of hope with the forces of dreams to forge a powerful story. We're glad Miss Hamilton is a writer. It makes the world just a little bit richer and our lives just a little bit warmer.