Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is one of the best Newbery books I have read., July 26, 1998
By A Customer
I have read MCHiggins the Great so many times my copy is falling apart. I've read a lot of Newbery books too, and this is one of the best. In some ways it is the best. Each time I read it, I see more. First the scene is one that will stay with you long after you close the book--the hills of Eastern Kentucky that MC walks, his house, his mountain, the pole he sits on, looking out over all these hills. Then the people are unforgettable. MC's best friend, Ben, has the most unique family you will ever meet in fiction, very strange but very loving with magical connections to nature. They are vegetarians, who live on an Appalachian family commune. The mother is a healer. MC's own family includes a mother who could be a famous folksinger if she wanted to leave home, a father who is tied to the hills because his own mother, a ghostly presence in the book, owned the mountain where they lived. She was an ex-slave, and her courage has seeped into MC. He must save his f! amily from a heap of soil that is threatening to bury his home and family, because of stripmining interests in the area, and he does at last find the way to do this. But not before he has a lot of fun chasing a girl who isn't going to be caught, hunting rabbits, swimming, listening to a city "dude" who wants to make his mother a star and imagining what this would be like, visiting his best friend's family, taking care of his spunky and sassy little sister, and sitting on his pole watching the world and trying to find his place in it. This book was written 25 years ago, but it is timeless. It's about teen feelings and finding your identity. It's about father and son conflicts and teen romance. It's about nature and the environment. Most of all, it's about family heritage, and taking a stand for what you believe in. Newbery books are for everyone--people of all ages, colors, regions, genders, cultures. And this is a classic Newbery --it's a rainbow of ideas an! d experiences, with a pot of gold waiting on the last page.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not for the Lazy Reader, August 19, 2006
It's obvious from other reviews that people read this book with preconceived notions. Because of the title and the awards, people believe this is going to be one barn-burner of a read.
It is not. Not much happens in the book, at least not physically. The action in the book comes from M.C.'s inner transformation as he becomes aware of a world beyond the insular world of his family, and eventually finds the strength to face life's difficulties and challenge the beliefs of his father.
This book is not for most children, who will likely find it boring, especially if they are used to Harry Potter-type adventures. This book also isn't for readers who are used to stories that tie everything up in a neat, pretty package. The ambiguity of the ending isn't completely satisfying, but it actually isn't that important. What is important is how M.C. has changed. At the end of the book, you know that whatever happens, M.C. is going to be OK.
Throughout the book, M.C. uses the title "M.C. Higgins, the Great" because of his physical abilities; being the only one who could climb the pole, swim across the Ohio River, and swim the lake tunnel. In the end, he lives up to the title because of his newfound inner strength to take action against his fears and make his own way in life.
Other miscellaneous comments:
- The lettuce leaves were for baiting M.C.'s rabbit traps.
- The book really doesn't take off until the beginning of Chapter Seven. Until then, it is merely setting up the characters, the situation, and the surroundings.
- The vernacular takes some getting used to.
- The "reverse" prejudice against the "witchy" Killburns adds an interesting aspect to the story.
- Virginia Hamilton doesn't "pretty up" the story. There are a couple of incidents that are shocking, but ring true, such as the fight between M.C. and Lurhetta, and the killing of the rabbit.
- The pole is a symbol, both of M.C.'s ancestral ties to Sarah's Mountain and of M.C. transcending the limitations of those ties. When M.C. is on his pole, he is above it all.
- Throughout the book, M.C. depends on the "dude" to take his family away from danger. But when the "dude" lets him down, M.C. discovers that he has to take action himself.
This is not an easy book for children to read. But compared to the "candy" of what sometimes passes for children's literature, it is a welcome serving of nutritious food.
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Michael Mihalik is the author of Debt is Slavery: and 9 Other Things I Wish My Dad Had Taught Me About Money. Learn how to gain control of your finances, pay off your debt, and create financial security!
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
It Left Me saying - Huh?, January 16, 2005
A Kid's Review
M.C. Higgins, the Great- one of the worst-titled books in history. Personally, I expect a LOT out of a Newbery award-winning book- esspecially this one, who made history by not only winning the Newbery medal, but also the Boston Horn/Book Gold award and the National Book award- but this one... whoa, this one is terrible.
It's about Mayo Cornelious Higgins, or M.C., whose world is changing hugely by the plans for getting lead out of his mountain- Sarah's Mountian- and living with thew fear of the rubbish left by it to collapse on their house. Along with that, he hopes that a person - namely called 'the dude', will take him away from his desolate home to somewhere else. Also with him, another visitor, a mysterious girl, arrives in M.C.'s life, changing his ideas and thoughts of people.
There are a few flaws in this book. First of all, it takes place over the period of - a little over three days. Somehow, I can't think that this book really only described all this change in half of a week. It seems to be months more than days. It just doesn't seem quite real. Also, it ends abruptly after the girl- named Lurhetta Outlaw- leaves Sarah's Mountain. It tells none of M.C.'s family, of their past, and left many unanswered questions. That problem really made me lower my hopes and likes of this book. It tells nothing of the history of M.C.'s grandparents too well, and really differs from Virginia Hamilton's other writing. And the plot of the book was very unclear. Only after I finished the book with my classmates for school did we learn of some intented plots- said in the teacher's manuel.
Personally I think that Miss Hamilton has written better books and that this book was really misjudged as 'a good book.' If you want to read a good Virginia Hamilton book, go read the House of Dies Drear, a book I also read in class but understood fully. It won't leave you wondering like this...thing.
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