Even at eleven, Jed knew he didn't want to work in the coal mines like his father and the four generations before him. The mines provided a meager subsistence for the families of Tin Creek, West Virginia, but they also crippled and took lives.
Jed dreamed of being a wood carver—and he had the talent for it. He hoped his pa would understand, but sometimes he felt that talking with "Big Tate" was like yelling at the mountain. "You're the only son I got," Jed's father told him. "If it ain't to be the mines, it's got to be somethin' awful good."
With the encouragement of his teacher and the help of his aunt, Jed sets out to find his own path. A path that might lead to steady, safe work under the open sky—and to peace with his father.
