Echo Mountain

 After the financial crash, Ellie's family has to give up their life in town and move to the mountain to survive on what they can grow.  Ellie quickly acclimates to life on the mountain and becomes a keen observer and budding naturalist, but her mother and her old sister, Esther, don't take to mountain life as quickly.  They miss their clean orderly life in town.  

Everything gets worse when her father is injured in an accident that leaves him in a coma.  It's been months with no sign of recovery.  They feed him, shave him, and read to him, and Ellie's mother believes he needs peace and calm to recover.  But Ellie is starting to think her mother is wrong.  Why would he wake up surrounded by peace and quiet?  Maybe he needs to be startled awake.

So Ellie begins her own experiments.  Esther and their mother are furious believing she will somehow hurt her father and make the situation worse.  Her little brother Samuel is just curious about everything.  It's no secret everyone blames her for the accident, and their resentment is often near the surface, but the truth is much worse.  The accident wasn't Ellie's fault, but she is willing to accept the blame to protect someone else.  

Her frustrations come to a head when her mother promises their dog's entire litter of puppies in exchange for a milk cow from one of their neighbors.  One of those puppies was born seemingly dead and would have remained so if Ellie hadn't listened to the instinct telling her to dunk him into a bucket of cold water.  The shock started his breathing, and Ellie's mother promised the puppy to her.  His name is Quiet, and Ellie loves him dearly.

When she learns Quiet is to be turned into a hunting dog, she decides she needs to take matters into her own hands.  She will do whatever she can to try and save her father.  She loves her mother, but she knows in her heart they can't just keep doing nothing.

One day on her travels around the mountain, she meets a scruffy dog who leads her to the top of the mountain and "the hag" everyone whispers about.  Instead of a frightening witch, Ellie discovers a sick old woman in need of help.  Now she has two patients to care for and a new source for information on healing.  Who is this woman who looks like a witch and lives in a cabin filled with books?  And what about the boy Ellie meets there who is strangely familiar?

Lauren Wolk's newest book is a beautiful and quiet tale about listening to yourself and exploring the power of nature.  This will not be a book for everyone, but for some, it will be a gift.  There are messages here about grief, prejudice, and family, and Ellie is a perfect blend of gentleness and strength.  Highly recommended.