Review Detail

ON SNOWDEN MOUNTAIN is a heavy historical middle grade read, which deals with depression, alcoholism, war, domestic abuse/violence, and child abuse as well as possibly dyslexia. Ellen's father left for war, leaving her mother to fall back into her depression. Although Ellen had not experienced this before, her mother did have a history of such illness. Luckily, when Ellen contacts her Aunt Pearl, she brings Ellen and her mother home with her to Snowden.

Ellen is reluctant about going, but she learns a lot about herself, people, and her family while she is there. Although she is somewhat of an outcast, she begins to befriend a boy who is older than she but still learning to read with the younger students at school. He also smells like skunk. Russell is abused by his alcoholic father who forces him to miss school to trap skunks (because their pelts are worth a good amount of money). As Ellen gets to know Russell better, she is also able to help him learn to spell and read a bit (it seems he has dyslexia).

This book ends up being a little scary owing to the domestic/child abuse/violence, so it should be selected with some care for the maturity of readers.

What I loved: There is a lot to unpack in this book, and it uses simple terms to introduce these big concepts to young readers. This is not an easy book to read, but it does a good job of talking about depression in somewhat abstract terms (as well as showing how other people to react to it/dismiss it) and dyslexia. The historical context of the war and concessions that had to be made for rationing and the like was also interesting.

What left me wanting more: I do wish there had been more resolution/resources for Russell and his mother, but this is a part of the historical context maybe and even exists now as well.

Final verdict: This is an engaging historical middle grade read that deals with some heavy topics. While it may be worth considering the maturity of the reader in selecting this book, it does have a lot of strengths in discussing the era and presenting these topics to the reader in ways that are understandable (with discussions to be started after reading).