Laskas, Gretchen Moran. The miner's daughter.

LASKAS, Gretchen Moran. The miner's daughter. Simon & Schuster. 247p. c2007. 1-4169-1262-2. $15.99. JS

Laskas is an 8th-generation West Virginian and she was inspired by her own family's history when writing about Willa, the miner's daughter. The story is set in the year that Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected, during the height of the Great Depression. We may know something about the Dust Bowl, soup lines, and other aspects of that terrible time, but perhaps we know little about the coal miners of West Virginia and how they survived when the mines were closed. Of course, it wasn't just the Depression that made their lives so desperate.

The story begins as Willa is 16 years old and must stay in their dilapidated home (owned by the mining company) to take care of her ill, pregnant mother and the younger children. At least her father and older brother Ves are employed in the mines--in the weeks up to the election. After the election, the mines are closed and the family barely survives. The father and Ves go off to work on a road project to be able to send money to the family left behind. The only bright spot for Willa is a young woman named Grace who has come from a middle-class background to open a library and community center in the ravaged mine camp. Willa reads as much as she possibly can; the family struggles along. When summer comes, Willa disguises herself as a boy to work in the fields picking crops, which brings in much-needed produce for her family. She meets Ves's friend Johnny and their romance grows until they are seriously considering getting married and moving to Pittsburgh to start a new life. But, as part of Roosevelt's New Deal, Willa and her family have a chance to live better--it's a difficult decision for Willa because if she stays with her own family, she must turn her back on Johnny and her other friends whose parents are foreign-born, who can't take part in the government program.

Isn't it amazing how themes in our country's politics and culture remain the same? This is a carefully written example of what poverty means to hard-working families. When Willa has a chance to visit Grace's family's home, marveling at the hot and cold water, the flush toilet, the abundant food, YA readers can get a sense of just how much we take for granted. A worthy book--certainly a necessary purchase in communities where mining is part of their history. Claire Rosser, KLIATT

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.