Into the Hollow

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Freedom Paine is faced with impossible choices. Her mother is dead. Her father is barely holding it together. She is the only stable individual her brother "Little" has ever known, and they are on the run from a secret that could tear them all apart. Cole Anderson knows about secrets. Unfortunately, in the small town of Poplar Branch, WV, secrets are a luxury that Cole does not have. Everyone knows who his family is and that he is from the holler. Even as he tries to keep his secrets from Free, Cole wants to learn hers. Up in the mountains of McDowell County, there is only drugs, trash, and despair, but somehow Cole and Freedom may have found something that could save them both. Told from two perspectives, this story of love and loss will captivate readers. Vroman writes for a teen audience with maturity and grace, never watering down the heartrending misery of poverty.