Secret Wisdom of the Earth (Scotton)

Book Reviews
Scotton’s accomplished debut is the story of Kevin Gillooly, a 14-year-old boy who moves to coal country and learns about courage and violence, beauty and danger, from his wise, weathered grandfather and a best friend well versed in backwoods survival.... Neither the first portrait of mining country nor the most original, Scotton’s novel nonetheless makes for compelling reading.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Debut author Scotton sets a captivating modern morality tale in Kentucky's coal country, 1985.With the small-town aura of To Kill a Mockingbird, a man reflects on the summer he learned that tradition, greed, class, race and sexual orientation can make for murder.... A powerful epic of people and place, loss and love, reconciliation and redemption.
Kirkus Reviews