M.C. Higgins, the Great

Virginia Hamilton's Newbery and National Book Award-winning novel, M.C. Higgins, the Great, is a powerful coming-of-age story set in the Appalachian Mountains. Fifteen-year-old M.C. Higgins lives with his tight-knit family on Sarah's Mountain, which is slowly being destroyed by a creeping slag heap from strip mining. From his homemade tower, M.C. dreams of a life beyond the mountain, but feels deeply tied to his family and their ancestral home. The arrival of two strangers complicates his internal struggle, forcing him to confront the tension between tradition and change, family loyalty and personal ambition. This classic explores themes of environmental impact, poverty, cultural identity, and the universal journey of self-discovery.

Hamilton’s classic coming-of-age tale: The National Book Award– and Newbery Award–winning novel about a young man who must choose between supporting his tight-knit family and pursuing his own dreams Mayo Cornelius Higgins perches on top of a homemade forty-foot tower, considering two destinies. Behind him is his family’s beloved house at the foot of a mountain that strip mining has reduced to loose rubble. In front of him, the beautiful Ohio River Valley and the great world beyond. As M.C. weighs whether to stay with the family and home he loves or set off into the world on his own, there appear on the horizon two strangers who will make his decision all the more difficult.