M.C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton is the story of M.C. Higgins and his family who live on the side of Sarah's Mountain. M.C. sits atop a 40 ft pole and can see his entire world from there. He dreams about leaving, but longs to stay put. He dreams for his mother and siblings, but he wonders if he can really leave. As M.C. tries to keep his home being swallowed by the rubble caused by strip mining and he knows that he may someday leave the only home he has every known.
Bibliography:
Hamilton, Virginia. "M.C. Higgins The Great." Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 1999.
My Impressions:
I did not like this book at all; it was hard to follow and seemed to be in too many pieces. The bleakness of the character M.C.'s life was troubling to read. His father loved him, but was brutal in the beatings that he gave to his son. His mother was having the essence drained from her for working so hard to have nothing and then the rape of the mountain by strip mining left nothing to really look forward to. In the end I actually gave up in trying to figure out what was going on in the story.
This story is better for 12 years and older children.
Reviews:
Anita Barnes Lowen - Children's Literature
M.C. Higgins and his family have lived on Sarah's Mountain for generations. His daddy says that one day it will belong to M.C. But the spoil heap (the pile of waste, or slag) that strip coal mining has left behind is slowly but inexorably creeping towards M.C.'s home. Maybe the "dude" who is collecting mountain voices and songs will make M.C.'s mama a star singer and the family will have to travel with her far away from their mountain home. Maybe Lurhetta Outlaw, the young teenage girl wandering alone in the woods, will be a catalyst for change. The characters in the story are best described by her: "You all are the strangest people." And indeed they are. There are the six-fingered witchy people said to possess unusual powers: M.C.'s daddy whose relationship with his son is cruel yet loving; and M.C. himself, who when he first spies Lurhetta on the wooded mountainside stalks and attacks her and finally establishes a cautious friendship. The author paints a rich picture of the life of a teenage boy who is desperately trying to hold on to his traditions, "as well as his dreams for the future." It will take a strong and motivated reader to follow the plot through the three-day detail-filled story of M.C.'s attempt to save his home and his family from disaster. Award-winning and considered a classic 25 years after its publication, this book belongs on library shelves. 2002 (orig. 1974), Aladdin Paperbacks/Simon & Schuster, Ages 12 up.
Suggested Use:
As part of a science reading to show the pollution of strip mining does to the earth.
Book Cover:
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