Jessie's Mountain (Maggie Valley Novels) [Hardcover]

Kerry Madden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2008 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Maggie Valley Novels

Livy Two has always dreamed of becoming a singer, and her decision to run off to Nashville?s Music Row is made with confidence?she figures the money she?ll bring home will buy the family?s house as well as forgiveness for running away. The Nashville adventure is a disaster, though; even her cherished guitar is stolen. Livy Two takes her failure hard, but finds comfort in the girlhood diary of her mother, Jessie. Outraged to discover that young Jessie had dreams now long-forgotten, Livy Two puts the whole family to work and makes Mama?s ultimate dream come true.

Jessie?s Mountain concludes the captivating three-book saga of Livy Two and her mountain family, the Weems of Maggie Valley, North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A fitting end to the trilogy, Madden has created a heartwarming family story bursting with love and mountain music. -- Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Kerry Madden has written plays, journalism (Los Angeles Times, Salon, Five Points: A Journal of Literature and Art, and Sierra Club Magazine), and six books including Offsides, a New York Library Pick for 1997, and Writing Smarts, a guide to creative writing published by American Girl. In 2005 she turned her hand to children’s literature with Gentle's Holler, the first installment in what became the award-winning Maggie Valley Trilogy, Viking Children's Books. It earned starred reviews in both Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly, was named a “Pick” by both the New York and the Chicago Public Libraries, and was the featured children’s book of North Carolina at the National Book Festival. The next book in the trilogy, Louisiana’s Song (2007) was equally well received, being named a Bank Street College Book of the Year and a finalist for several other awards. The third installment, Jessie’s Mountain, was published in 2008 to strong reviews. Most recently Madden published UpClose Harper Lee as part of Viking's UpClose Series and received a starred Kirkus for this biography. She has taught at the University of Tennessee, Ningbo University in China, UCLA, and elsewhere, and has visited schools across the country as a guest author. She has just accepted a new job at the University of Alabama in Birmingham as a professor of Creative Writing beginning the fall of 2009.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (February 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670061549
• ISBN-13: 978-0670061549
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #518,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dear Kids,
I write books and teach writing workshops to kids of all ages. My first novel, OFFSIDES, was called "A Great Santini" from the girl's point of view and selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Ten Recommended Books of 1997 for Mature Teens. My dream is for it to find a second life someday. It's been out of print for many a year now.

My second (published) book, WRITING SMARTS: A Girl's Guide to Writing Great Poetry, Stories, School Reports, and More! (published by American Girl Library, 2002) hopefully helps kids craft their own stories and poetry. I love using it when I teach writing workshops and get kids to write about their favorite secret places.

My debut children's novel, GENTLE'S HOLLER, was included in the "100 BOOKS FOR READING AND SHARING" by the New York Public Library in 2005. The Chicago Public Library also selected GENTLE'S HOLLER for its 2006 Best of the Best Bibliography. GENTLE'S HOLLER received a SIBA Nomination for Favorite Children's Books of 2005. I loved writing GENTLE because I got to go to the Smoky Mountains in my head and play lots of mountain music.

GENTLE'S HOLLER (Starred Kirkus and PW review) is the story of a young girl from the Great Smoky Mountains, coming to terms with life in a large family and her desire to create her own adventures beyond the holler.

My next Maggie Valley book, LOUISIANA'S SONG has just been published this spring, 2007, and JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN will be published in 2008. Right now, it's a Smoky Mountain trilogy.

GENTLE'S HOLLER has just been released by Recorded Books this spring, read by Kate Forbes.

So that's about it...I post kids' stories and poems on my blog.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Ties, February 14, 2008

By 

Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jessie's Mountain (Maggie Valley Novels) (Hardcover)

In GENTLE'S HOLLER, Kerry Madden introduces young readers to Olivia (better known as Livy Two) Weems, a twelve-year-old with a passion for books and music. Livy has eight siblings of various ages and tempermants, a sweet mama, and a starry-eyed daddy. Money's tight - Daddy's music fills the heart and ears more than it fills the pocketbook - but the Weems make do, and their household is always bursting with family, love, and music. The story continued in LOUISIANA'S SONG, the second book in the trilogy, which was just as precious as the first.

JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN, the final book in the trilogy, is named after the mother of the family. In a rare act of tenderness, Grandma Horace gives Livy Two the diary her mom wrote when she was about Livy's age. The journal entries and sketches give Livy new insight into her mom. Though she keeps it to herself at first, she ends up reading passages to her brothers and sisters.

The story also takes Livy Two and Jitters on a journey to Nashville, because Livy is dead-set on auditioning for a music man named Mr. George Flowers. It's an expensive trip in more ways than one, and the fallout follows Livy for the rest of the book. ("It's as if I left Maggie Valley a little girl and came back home grown up. Even Mama and Daddy look older to me, like the worry of the last few days aged them all at once.")

Music, as always, brings the family together and will bring smiles to readers' faces. JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN is a satisfying conclusion to a trilogy that's as sweet as a slice of homemade pie.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, August 9, 2009

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jessie's Mountain (Maggie Valley Novels) (Hardcover)

Gold Star Award Winner!

Twelve-year-old Olivia "Livy Two" Weems can't quit worrying about the mean letters that the landlady keeps sending her family. Ever since the car wreck that left her musician father mentally addled, her mother has struggled to support their large family, who live in a small cabin in Maggie Valley, North Carolina.

Although Grandma Horace is currently staying with them to help out, Livy Two's grandmother keeps trying to convince Livy Two's mother that the whole family should leave Maggie Valley forever and join her in her home in Enka-Stinka, the factory town where Livy Two's mother grew up. Not one member of the Weems family wants to leave Maggie Valley, but Livy Two has a plan.

Her father left home at the age of fourteen to pursue his love of music and make it on his own playing the banjo. Ever since she and her father met Mr. George Flowers, the Nashville Music Man who complemented their songs and told them to "keep it up," Livy Two has kept up a regular correspondence with the agent, and even swiped one of her mother's handmade scarves to send him as a present. Her plan is to head to Nashville on her own to audition for Mr. George Flowers and sell him some of her songs.

If all goes well, she'll be back in a few days with money in her pocket, presents for her family, and the promise that they can now stay in Maggie Valley.

One night, Livy Two receives an unexpected sign. Grandma Horace has found the girlhood diary of Livy Two's mother, Jessie, who left everything behind when she ran off with Tom, Livy Two's father. Livy's grandmother gives her the diary as an early Christmas present, and Livy Two eagerly devours the entries as she learns of the carefree and fun girl that her mother used to be. Jessie Horace had some big dreams of her own, and it's time for Livy Two to make her own dreams come true, and help her family by making a bold move for Nashville, Music City, USA.

Although this is the third and final book about the Weems family, I fell right into this story, and crawled out eager for more. Livy Two serves as an endearing, distinctive narrator with an unforgettable voice, and the characters that surround her all prove to be individuals in their own right.

This is one author that does not disappoint when it comes to characters readers can care about.

Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heartwearming Conclusion to a Wonderful Series, July 1, 2008

By 

The Well-Read Child "http://wellreadchild.blo... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jessie's Mountain (Maggie Valley Novels) (Hardcover)

Jessie's Mountain is the third book in Kerry Madden's Maggie Valley trilogy and takes place about a month after the conclusion of Louisiana's Song . Daddy is improving, but he's still unable to work, and it's more and more likely that the family will have to move to Grandma Horace's house in Enka. Determined to prevent this, Livy Two hatches a plan to run away to Nashville and get a record deal. When it doesn't go quite as she expected, it looks as if the family will have to leave Maggie Valley behind. Along with this, Grandma Horace gives Live Two her mother's diary from when she was her age. As Livy reads her mother's words, she mourns the girl who had dreams and spunk who has now become a tired, overworked mother of ten. Then Livy Two hatches a plan that will not only make her mother's girlhood dreams come true but that will also enable the family to stay and thrive in Maggie Valley.

In this final book, I enjoyed getting to know Jessie, the mother, a little better as well as Jitter, Livy's younger sister. Kerry Madden continued to interweave the family's hardships with a bit of humor and warmth. I didn't, however, get as much of Livy Two's voice and spunk in this one, and I found it a bit refreshing to read Jessie's diary and hear her voice. I also have mixed feelings about the ending of the book...it almost seemed "too happy" and perhaps a bit unrealistic. That, however, did not stop me from thoroughly enjoying the book and being satisfied with the trilogy as a whole.

After reading all three, my favorite book was Louisiana's Song . I think Madden really went more in depth with the characters in that book and presented realistic, gut wrenching feelings and situations.

I would recommend this series to young girls in the 10-12 age range. I think they would enjoy hearing the story from Livy Two's point of view. While this is the end of the "Maggie Valley trilogy," I hope this isn't the end of the Weems' family's story.