2022 Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award Winner, YA Winner, Grand Prize Finalist
She knows the risks. Train-hopping is dangerous. Railroad bulls are deadly. But fourteen-year-old June Baker has no other choice. It’s 1933, and the Great Depression is spreading misery throughout the country. If June doesn’t find work, her family could lose their farm – and they’ve already lost too much. Journey with June in this debut by Cheryl King, a coming-of-age tale about family, friendship, love, loss, and hope.
King’s moving debut, a historical coming-of-age story, follows young June Baker and her family in Maynardville, Tennessee, at the height of the Great Depression. There’s no jobs or government assistance, the mortgage bills keep coming, and June’s mother is sick and her father has hurt himself chopping wood. It’s up to June and her brother Josy to save their family from losing the farm––their livelihood and home. At first, they start trapping rabbits, sewing bonnets, and trading eggs for other goods, but the times get so hard that that’s not enough anymore. So Josy and June jump on the railroads to find work in other towns and states, risking their lives to help their family––until tragedy threatens to take their last hope away.King ably illustrates desperation and hardship, showcasing the resilience of this family as they lose everything––even, possibly, each other. June starts off as a scared child and ends up a strong woman with a couple of love interests, and King highlights the individual relationships in this striking portrait of a family––and town ––that is at once a look into the Great Depression and a reflection on the devastation that comes with putting profit over people, especially in the case of the railroad police (also known as bulls). June comes to the realization that she doesn’t need money to be rich.
Overall, a page-turning, heart wrenching, occasionally thrilling read about one family's struggle to survive, Sitting on Top of the World invites pree-teen and young teen readers into a hardscrabble stretch of the American past. Along the way, King offers memorable details and images: a game of marbles, pawpaw trees, Mama’s herb garden, a little stray mama cat called Bug. Still, the story’s tight focus on the poor white family at its center can make the historical scope feel small. The brief appearance of Pate, Josy’s friend, the novel’s only significant Black character, plays like a missed opportunity to broaden the novel’s purview.
Takeaway: The enthralling story of young people trying to save their family farm in the depths of the Great Depression.
Great for fans of: Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds, Lauren Wolk’s Echo Mountain, Jojo Moyes’s The Giver of Stars.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
Sitting on Top of the World takes the young adult reader into a time period only taught in school. This refreshing tale provides readers with accurate historical references and relatable characters. As a mother of a 14-year-old girl, I appreciate the author's choice to create a main character full of gumption, strength and resilience in the face of adversity. I can't wait to read more of June's adventures.
Sitting on Top of the World is a great book! I was hooked from page one with vivid imagery and dialogue. June’s joy and spunk are endearing as she meets the challenges that arise. I loved the vividness of the story. It felt like I was right next to June as she shared her journey. I walked with her to the store, I met her friends, I ached with her in her confusion, I cried with her in her sadness, I felt the flutters of first love, and I felt her sorrow and her hope.
