Light Comes to Shadow Mountain by Toni Buzzeo is about a young girl named Cora who wants to bring electricity to the houses in rural Kentucky. In 1937, the government sent a notice to the families in the rural areas around the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. It told residents that they can join the electric cooperation to have electricity in their homes, if they paid a fee to join. This notice was sent as part of the Rural Electrification Act. The Act allowed rural areas access to electricity.
When Cora hears about electricity coming to her area, she is ecstatic. Her curious nature propels her to learn everything she can about electricity. As she learns more about it, she is confident that her family and neighbors would benefit from it. She decides to come up with some fundraising ideas to help raise the money to get electricity in her school. She also creates a school newspaper to help her fellow students spread the benefits of electricity to their families. She figured, the more they learned about the benefits, the more likely they would join the cooperative.
However, Cora soon realizes that not everyone is so excited about electricity and her fiercest opponent is closer to home than she realized. Cora’s mother is dead-set against electrification being brought to the holler. She claims that it will affect the landscape and alter their very way of life. Cora’s mother feels that electricity will bring about too many changes and it will affect their community for the worst.
The book was an interesting and emotional read. Cora is a bright young girl who wants to learn new things and try to spread the information to everyone. However, she always comes head to head with her mother. At times, the reader felt for Cora as she was trying to listen to her mother but also trying to follow her heart. I liked reading how Cora and her mother were able to reconnect and repair their bond. I also learned a lot of interesting things like the Electrification Act, how an incubator worked, and about the Pack Horse Library Project. The author included some additional resources if readers were interested in learning more. I would be open to reading more books by this author.
