Up Molasses Mountain — Julie Baker

"I couldn't imagine a life where I couldn't come up on the hill to get away.”

In 1953, Clay, West Virginia, is a mining town where families have known each other for generations, and the biggest excitement of the year is when the circus comes to town. But that spring, a strike divides Clay and causes a tragic accident that changes 15-year-old Elizabeth's life in an instant.

The accident sends Elizabeth to the hills in search of comfort. There she befriends Clarence, a high school outcast who has a rare and special animal hidden in the woods. As they care for his pet, they create a fragile refuge from the violence that is building all around them, and within their own families.