Blue Ridge Billy
by Lois Lenski
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About This Book
A young boy dreams of music and sunshine in the Great Smoky Mountains As far as Billy is concerned, there's no sight more beautiful than the sun setting over the Blue Ridge Mountains. When the day is done, he sneaks away from his work to watch the sun go down. If his father knew, he would call Billy lazy, but Mama would understand. She knows life in the mountains is hard and that there's no point in living if a person can't take time to appreciate what he has. Billy dreams of the day when he can
Our Review
A young boy in the Appalachian mountains balances the harsh demands of survival with his deep appreciation for natural beauty and a yearning for music. Billy's secret moments watching the sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains provide a poignant contrast to the unending labor required by mountain life, a conflict his weary mother understands but his pragmatic father would dismiss as laziness.
Lenski’s regional story immerses readers in a specific time and place, capturing the universal tension between duty and dreams. Young readers who feel the pull of art, nature, or a future different from their present circumstances will find a kindred spirit in Billy, whose quiet rebellion is a testament to the enduring human need for beauty. This is a resonant, grounded portrait of a boy clinging to hope where life offers little.
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