Annal:1975 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature
From AwardAnnals
Results of the National Book Award in the year 1975. For a ranked list of books, try an honor roll:
- 1975 NBA–Youth winner
- 1975 Newbery winner
- 1974 Horn Book-fiction winner
- Score: 30.25
M.C.’s family is rooted to the slopes of Sarah’s Mountain. His great-grandmother escaped to the mountain as a runaway slave and made it her home. It bears her name, and her descendants have lived there ever since.
When M.C. looks out from atop the gleaming forty-foot pole that his father planted in the mountain for him—a gift for swimming the Ohio River—he sees only the rolling hills and shady valleys that stretch out for miles in front of him.
And M.C. knows why his father never wants his family to leave.
But when M.C. looks behind, he sees only the massive remains of strip mining—a gigantic heap of dirt and debris perched threateningly on a cliff above his home.
And M.C. knows they cannot stay.
So when two strangers arrive in the hills, one bringing the promise of fame in the world beyond the mountains and the other the revelation that choice and action both lie within his grasp, M.C.’s life is changed—forever.
