Empty Places by Kathy Cannon Weichman

This school year I dedicated one bulletin board for a reading challenge - for myself and hopefully other teachers and students.  It my Read Along Road Trip Challenge - I'm trying to read a book with the setting from each of the states.  Every time I finish one, I print out the book cover and then cut it to the shape of the state - kind of like a giant puzzle.  to get me started, I did include the books I read this past summer on the Sequoyah Intermediate Book List.  I figure it's this school year's list and maybe it would help peak interest for them.  I was able to include 4 of these books - Boy in the Black Suit for New York, Blackbird Fly for Louisiana, I Am Princess X for Washington, and Orbiting Jupiter for Maine.  The Seventh Most Important Thing is perfect for Washington, D.C.; however, I don't have a good "puzzle piece" for this one, and it would be so tiny.  I will probably just include on the side of the big puzzle map.

In my quest for more states, I found this book in a stack of to be read books.  It definitely fits for my Kentucky pick.  Empty Places by Kathy Cannon Weichman is all about a struggling family in the hills of Kentucky, Harlan County to be exact in 1932.  The mother has run off, and the father is a hard working coal miner and an alcoholic.  The older sister, Raynelle, has taken the place as the mothering figure even though she is just a teen herself.  The older brother, Pick, is determined to get out.  He has no intention in following in his father footsteps as a cola miner.  The younger sister, Blissie, who is a ray of sunshine in a grim situation.  Then there's Adabel, the voice of the narration.  She just wants to remember things, especially why her Mama left seven years ago.

I would classify this as a historical fiction and coming of age book as Adabel learns the truths about her family.  It a good read, but I don't think it'll appeal to many teens wanting to read the next best novel.