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07 March 2021

The Moonlight School by Suzanne Woods Fisher

 


The Moonlight School

By Suzanne Woods Fisher

Narrated by Pilar Witherspoon


I have just started listening to this audiobook, which I purchased through Audible.com, but I am really enjoying it! Much of  family is from Eastern Kentucky, and I grew up hearing stories of what it was like to live there. We've visited once and I would like to return.

Thoughts so far: Cora is quite eccentric and she really does put poor Lucy into some dangerous situations. Mountain people as not always quite welcoming to strangers, especially if they are moonshiners. I have a couple of family members who were. 

I've really enjoyed reading about logging in that area during that time because my great-grandfather would go up to Northern Michigan to log up there. So I thought Kentucky had been pretty well logged out by then in that area. My grandfather ended up being born in Traverse City, Michigan, even though he was from Kentucky (which explained why we couldn't find a birth record for him in Kentucky!) That was in 1906, before the start of this novel.

Lucy is a really sympathetic heroine. I'm dying to find out what happened to her little sister. Also interested in hearing more about the illiteracy. My mother and her siblings attended school in Kentucky and my grandfather was able to read and write. This story makes me wonder about the previous generations. What a blessing that educators did reach out to help adults attain literacy!


Publisher's Summary

Haunted by her sister's mysterious disappearance, Lucy Wilson arrives in Rowan County, Kentucky, in the spring of 1911 to work for Cora Wilson Stewart, superintendent of education. When Cora sends Lucy into the hills to act as scribe for the mountain people, she is repelled by the primitive conditions and intellectual poverty she encounters. Few adults can read and write.  

Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother Wyatt, a singing schoolmaster who travels through the hills. Involving Lucy and Wyatt, Cora hatches a plan to open the schoolhouses to adults on moonlit nights. The best way to combat poverty, she believes, is to eliminate illiteracy. But will the people come?  

As Lucy emerges from a life in the shadows, she finds purpose; or maybe purpose finds her. With purpose comes answers to her questions, and something else she hadn't expected: love.  

Inspired by the true events of the Moonlight Schools, this stand-alone novel from best-selling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings to life the story that shocked the nation into taking adult literacy seriously. You'll finish the last moment of this enthralling story with deep gratitude for the gift of reading.


Giveaway: Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy. The Moonlight School comes in paperback and also ebook versions, too.




21 comments:

  1. I wonder which Mountain person will learn to read first and how will they avidly put their new skills into practical use to change the life on the mountain?

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    1. And per random.org you are our winner this week! Congrats to Daughter of the King!

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  2. My grandpa was born in Traverse City, MI, too! I recently found that out through Ancestry! I've never heard of moonlit schools and now I'm intrigued!

    mnjesusfreak @ gmail . com

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    1. That's so cool, Mimi! Do you know what brought your grandpa's family up North at that time?

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  3. I would love to read this! Thank you! Avid

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  4. I am excited to read this! "Avid". Thank you!

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  5. Sounds like a great read. Thanks for sharing about it.
    Avid.

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  6. Oh my this book definitely needs to go on my TBR. Having grown up in KY I can relate to so much you’ve described. I lived next to a bootlegger. Plus I’ll never forget the first girl I met when we moved to KY. She was just a couple of years older than me and I was so shocked to find out that she was no longer in school. She explained that down there they could quit at the end of eighth grade. I later found that many kids did that. Avid reader. 😁

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    1. My mom quit school after eighth grade, and she was living in MI at that time. I've enjoyed hearing about your KY connections!

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  7. This sounds like a great book. I would love to win this! AVID member. grandmama_brenda(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  8. Oh, this sounds like a good book! It’s one that I’ve put on my TBR list!

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  9. This book is already on my TBR list. Like Carrie, I want to know about Lucy's little sister. Even without that information, the book will still be an absorbing read.

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  10. I can't wait to read this book! I've already been researching it.
    susanlulu@yahoo.com
    Susan in NC

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  11. Sounds like a wonderful story.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  12. I love the idea that there were people back in the days of old Kentucky that had a heart for teaching adults. It's sure to be an interesting read!
    Perrianne Askew
    perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com

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  13. The Moonlight School sounds like quite books. I would love to read it.
    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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  14. I've been seeing this and am anxious to read it. Thank you for the chance to win a copy.

    wfnren at aol dot com

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  15. Thank you, Carrie, for sharing my book with your readers! Loved reading their comments, too. And I enjoyed hearing of your connections to Kentucky (bootleggers in your family tree...now there's a story!). Warmly, Suzanne

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    1. Glad to host you, Suzanne! Unfortunately there's kind of a sad story there with bootleggers, though, too!

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  17. Sounds like an interesting book, Carrie. Adding it to my ever growing TBR list.
    Blessings, Tina
    Avid

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