Customer Reviews

Jessie's Mountain (Maggie Valley Novels)

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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.

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

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.

My daughter and her friends love these books. Although she is a teenager and too "sophisticated" now for the series, she sat down and read Jessie's Mountain the moment she got it. She and her urban friends discuss how wonderful it would be to grow up in a place like Maggie Valley, in an easier time and with all those brothers and sisters.

Jessie's Mountain (Maggie Valley Novels)
While this book may be set in the 1960's, its truths are as petinent today. Families still struggle, still worry about their children, still love, and still work together to create the closeness of family. Livy Two learns that the love of family means foregiveness and re-embracing into the family circle. While this may be the last books of this series, we certainly hope that Kerry Madden writes many more with the Maggie Valley setting.

Our library is home to numerous home school families, and they are enthralled with this book. Family referring to family member and then to other families in their group.

We love these books!!!...as parents who like to read what their kids read, we look forward to these books which take us back to our childhoods...but our two girls cherish and adore reading them as well. After reading this most recent in the series, they insisted we go back and read the first two again. If you looking for something tender and true in the tradition of "Little House" books, these are for you. (You don't have to read them in the order they were published...each book stands on its own!)

The Maggie Valley Trilogy by Kerry Madden

Kerry Madden has captured mountain life in a charming three-book series that will capture young reader's hearts ... adults can read these as well and will be entertained by the whimsy and magic that is the Weems family. The books are set in the early 60's in the Smoky Mountain region of Western North Carolina. Madden does a good job of centering her characters in this early time, but as well, leaving the reader with a timeless feel that can span the ages.

In the first of the trilogy, GENTLE'S HOLLER, Madden introduces readers to Olivia Weems, who goes by Livy Two--named after her older sister, also a Livy, who passed into the great mountain beyond before Olivia was born--and her eight (soon to be nine) siblings. Livy Two loves books, music, the mountain holler where she lives in Maggie Valley, and her family. Livy Two plays guitar, and writes songs that she sings impromptu to her family, to the sky, to the holler, to the very wind...music is in her marrow, same as her daddy.

It isn't exactly a hard-scrabble life, but the Weems family does not have much money and must find ways to pay the rent, put food on the table, and maybe put a little aside for the just in cases. Livy Two's father is a banjo player, and looks for ways to make a living at it, much to the dismay of Livy Two's Grandma Horace, who simply doesn't understand why the Weems live as they do and love that holler so much!

The first book centers around Livy Two's young sister, Gentle. Gentle can't see the world as her siblings do, and Livy Two finds ways to help her see her world in a special and unique way. The oldest brother of the Weems clan is Emmett, who adds a bit of struggle to the Weems family unit with his dreams of taking off to Maggie Valley's Ghost Town in the Sky, way up top the mountain, where he is certain his dreams of being a Star will come true.

The first book leads readers on a wonderfully gentle ride...and straight on to pick up the next in the series--

LOUISIANA'S SONG. Where we find our Livy Two again as the storyteller of the Weems's lives. "Louisiana" is sister Louise's name; having received said name when her parents visited the state of Louisiana. Louise is a gifted painter, and once again Madden shows us in unique ways how this family sees the world through art and music and love and hope. There has been an accident in the first book--one that I will not give away--and in this second book in the trilogy, Livy Two and the other Weems's must struggle with the outcome of this unfortunate misfortune, but they do so with grace and dignity, and with hope.

This second book continues the story in a fine and charming fashion--and yes, there is that word "charming" again. Parents can feel comfortable picking up these books for their children (10 and older) to read--the stories and characters are precious even when precocious.


JESSIE'S MOUNTAIN is the final book in the Maggie Valley Trilogy. This book is named after Livy Two's mother, although Livy Two remains the narrator in all three books. Grandma Horace is a pain the backsides of Livy Two and the other siblings, for Grandma Horace wants the Weems to move to "Enka Stinka," away from the holler and all that Livy Two and her family loves: their little dog they adopted, the whistle pigs, the wind through the trees, the mountains--Enka Stinka is just as its name implies: it stinks with the factory there!

However, Grandma Horace shows a soft side and gives Livy Two a diary--Livy's mother's diary! Livy is spellbound by the thought of her mother as once young and full of ideas and wants and dreams.

Meanwhile, Livy wants to pursue her dream of making music in Nashville, since that aforementioned outcome of the accident is still a part of the Weems's life (although things are looking up!). Livy and her younger sister Jitters take a wild trip to The Land of Nashville, where Livy learns that sometimes things do not always work out as one would want it to--but in Weems fashion, she and her siblings find another way to save the day.

The trilogy ends in a hopeful, sweet, and satisfying conclusion. Madden knows how to tug at the heart strings, but in a way that respects the ages of her readers and doesn't swim in over-sentimentality. These books just made me smile, and the Weems family will forever be embedded in my heart.

Jessie's Mountain gracefully allows the reader to spend more quality time with the Weems family. As I began to read the third of the trilogy, I felt as if I knew each of the various characters (all are wonderfully developed with distinct characteristics that add to the stories). But Jessie's Mountain came with more stories of the endearing Weems family and shared even more depth of the very fabric of which the family is made. Unforgettable!

Jessie's Mountain is the third in Madden's Maggie Valley trilogy. The first was Gentle's Holler and the second was Louisana's Song. They are all stand-alone books, but you would do yourself a great service to read all three.

The journey Madden has taken us on with Livy Two and her family has been exciting, humorous and poignant. She's shown us a family who knows both poverty and love intimately. They work hard, love deeply and share a fierce passion for Maggie Valley.

In Jessie's Mountain (named after the mother in the family), we once again visit Livy Two and her family. In a rare act of tenderness, Grandma Horace and Livy Two share a nighttime visit with each other. Grandma gives Livy Two her mother's diary, one she wrote in the 1940s in Enka, North Carolina, before she married and had her children. The diary gives Livy Two an entirely new perspective on her mother. At first she doesn't share anything with her siblings, but later begins reading passages to them.

Livy Two has experienced much love and much heartache in her twelve years. The family is poor and everyone helps keep the family afloat. Livy Two's daddy has been sick since a car accident, and Grandma Horace wants to move the family back to Enka. Livy Two doesn't want to leave Maggie Valley.

Livy Two, like her father, loves music. She's torn about an important decision she must make. Should she run off to Nashville to audition for Mr. George Flowers? If she does make the trip, what will be the consequences? You have to read the book for these answers. No spoilers allowed.

I love Livy Two and her large, boisterous family. They are a breath of fresh air. As I said in my review of Gentle's Holler, love and hope never take a vacation in Livy Two's family. They are the kind of people you want to meet, get to know and have them stay awhile. Livy Two's family accepts that they are poor, but also know that poverty is a situation and not about whom they are. They are wonderful proud people who are doing their best.

Armchair Interviews says: Kerry Madden's Maggie Valley trilogy will become classics. They are that good.

The Maggie Valley books are set in the early 60's and feature the Weems family. The Weems' live in a ramshackle house in a rural Smoky Mountain valley, and consist of a practical mother, a dreamer/musician father, and nine (eventually ten) children. The stories are told from the first-person viewpoint of 12-year-old, Livy Two, second-oldest living daughter, namesake of Livy One, who died at birth.

In Gentle's Holler, the first book of the trilogy, the Weems family copes with financial hardship stemming from the father's sporadic work, and the growing realization that three-year-old Gentle can't see properly. Although they struggle with hard times, they have love and music to keep themselves going. They are also helped by a quiet but caring neighbor, and one of the best librarians ever written. The story ends in tragedy, but also in hope.

In Louisiana's Song, Livy Two's focus shifts from Gentle to her nearest-in-age sister Louise, a talented but shy artist. Louise's personal growth is set against increasing family struggles (the result of the tragedy from the end of the first book), and the beginnings of the serious possibility that the family might have to leave their beloved Maggie Valley. We also see Livy Two starting to grow up in this book.

In book three, Jessie's Mountain, the children learn more about their mother, Jessie, through the gift of her childhood diary. Livy Two also takes matters into her own hands, making a quest to improve her family's fortunes. Things don't go quite as planned, however, and she pays a price for her impetuous actions. The threat of having to leave Maggie Valley draws ever closer, and Livy Two and her siblings struggle to preserve their family, their home, and their self-esteem.

All three books are lyrical and heart-warming, and likely to bring tears to your eyes. However, they have enough humor to keep them from being sappy, and enough conflict to keep them interesting.

All of the characters in the series are multi-dimensional, and most grow and change throughout the books. The evolution of Livy Two's father is downright remarkable. I also enjoyed the children's teacher, Mr. Pickle, who is a far from sympathetic character initially, but gradually reveals hidden kindness. Even the one sister who I had no use for throughout the entire first two books blossomed into someone of interest in the third. The children's Grandma Horace and Uncle Buddy are also complex and unpredictable, neither completely good nor completely bad. Kerry Madden resists the urge to make even the most minor characters stereotypes. She's also able to give the various characters unique mannerisms, without making them seem quirky.

After reading these books, I feel like I've just returned from the rural 1960's south. I'm happy to have spent time with the Weems family, especially Livy Two, Gentle, and Louise. I wish that I could see their family of pet groundhogs, and hear Livy Two play the guitar. And I wish that I could meet Miss Attickson the librarian, and thank her for making a difference. As you can see, these are books that crept into my heart, and that I'm likely to re-read in the future.

I recommend the Maggie Valley series for middle grade readers of both genders. Although the titles and cover illustrations are more likely to appeal to girls than to boys, the escapades of brother Emmett and the outdoor adventures of all of the children are more boy-friendly than you might expect. These books would make excellent family read-alouds, suitable for younger children, but revealing more complex layers for older kids. Although not at all 'message books', the Maggie Valley books give readers an appreciation for the pros and cons of rural life, and the hardships faced by families struggling in the margins. This is a perfect series for kids who loved the Little House books to read next, before moving on to Hattie Big Sky. Highly recommended.

A longer version of this book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on April 5, 2008.