M.C. Higgins, the Great Analysis

What Time Is It?There are books that scream I'm set in the 1960s at readers, and then there's this book. That this tale takes place in the 1960s is much subtler, in large part due to the fact that...

We may say that the book is in the third-person, but don't be confused: It's still M.C.'s story all the way through. This book is all about how M.C. thinks and feels, and it's limited to his persp...

Young Adult LiteratureThis is a no-brainer: We've got a thirteen-year-old boy who's just coming into his own as a young man. He's into this older girl who isn't so into him, but that doesn't stop h...

PensiveQuestion: What do you expect when a book totally comes from inside the head of a thirteen-year-old boy who isn't exactly getting things to go his way? Answer: Things get heavy pretty quickly...

VernacularBy vernacular, what we mean is sounding like the people—in this case, people living in the Appalachians. The author does what she can to make M.C. sound as Appalachian as possible. For...

The book is about M.C. Higgins, the Great. So, of course, the title of the book just has to be M.C. Higgins, the Great. Right?After all, if your main guy is this arrogant, self-centered, teenaged b...

M.C. definitely doesn't get the girl. But that's okay because he's building a wall that's going to save his home from a sliding spoil-heap. And it's not just him—the ending is all about M.C. empo...

The hardest thing about this book is the occasional slip into Appalachian-speak—other than that, you have a fairly easy read ahead of you. There's still the occasional head-scratcher, though. For...

Big DreamsM.C. has everything he wants: a mountain to call his own, a best friend with whom he can telepathically communicate, a family that he's seriously devoted to. What else could he possibly n...

Guess what Virginia Hamilton's daughter and son do? They're both talented singers (her daughter even sings opera) and writers. Talent: Sometimes it runs in the family. (Source.) Virginia Hamilton w...

To be honest, there really isn't much steamy action in the book. But it still scores a PG-13 by our standards because it touches on some tricky, potentially racy, and even disturbing topics. Like r...

The Civil War (4.67)Slavery (4.67)"Juba" (African-American slave song) (6.78)