Wild Mountain Ivy

by Shannon Hitchcock

Months after catching a common virus, twelve-year-old Ivy still hasn’t recovered.

Ivy doesn’t even have the energy to play music. Hoping a change of scenery will help, she’s spending the summer in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, where her uncle has converted an old house into a bed and breakfast. The Everly House has a long history―including a stint as a sanatorium, a treatment center for tuberculosis patients, in the 1920s.

Ivy starts having dreams about a girl named Jessie Pearl, a TB patient who stayed at the house a hundred years ago. Like Ivy, Jessie was an adventurous musician who struggled to adapt to her sickness. But at the Everly House, she was able to rest, listen to her body, and find new ways to fill her time.

As Ivy delves into the history of the house, hoping to find out what happened to Jessie, she makes other discoveries that turn her summer in the mountains into a new beginning.

Genres: Middle Grade

272 pages, Hardcover

First published March 3, 2026

About the author

SHANNON HITCHCOCK grew up in rural North Carolina on a 100-acre farm. Her extended family and love of the south are integral to her stories. Shannon is the author of ONE TRUE WAY, (Scholastic 2018), RUBY LEE & ME, (Scholastic 2016), and the Crystal Kite Award-winning, THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL. Shannon's picture book biography, OVERGROWN JACK was nominated for the Sue Alexander Most Promising New Work Award. Her writing has been published in Highlights for Children, Cricket, Children’s Writer, and other magazines.

Shannon currently divides her time between Hendersonville, NC and Tampa, Florida.

Reviews

[Mildly Mad Hatter(Semi Hiatus)]

DNF @ 9%
I DNFed this because of LGBTQ content. The main girl’s uncle has a husband and she goes to stay at their place so it’s a rather big part of the book. I don’t support or read LGBTQ and I was really disappointed that this was in here because I was excited to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc of this book.

[The Page Ladies Book Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one hit me right in the feels. Ivy is dealing with long-term fatigue after a virus so relatable lately and heads to a Blue Ridge Mountain B&B to recover. It used to be a 1920s tuberculosis sanatorium! She starts dreaming of a girl named Jessie Pearl who lived there 100 years ago. It’s a beautiful, quiet story about healing and finding a new rhythm when life changes.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

E ARC provided by the publisher

Ivy is an avid violinist whose mother Charlotte is a math teacher and whose father travels with his Bluegrass band, Will Presnell and the Misty Mountain Boys. When Ivy gets sick, she and her best friend Priya don't think it's serious, but it turns out to be COVID. Two months later, Ivy is still weak and tired, suffering from long Covid. Since her Uncle Cam and his husband Steve run a bed and breakfast in the mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, they invite Ivy and her mother to stay there for the summer, even offering to pay Charlotte to help out, since she won't be able to teach summer school. Everly House is in a building that had been a tuberculosis sanitarium, and there's even a portrait of Jessie Pearl, one of the patients, with a dulcimer, and Ivy stays in the Jessie Room. When she naps, which she does frequently, she dreams about Jessie, who communicates about things like using a feather pick for the dulcimer, and also provides flashbacks to what her life was like in the sanitarium. When her strength allows, Ivy learns to play dulcimer, makes biscuits with the cook, Celeste, takes trips into town with her mother, and does some research into Jessie's life, even reading Murphy's Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure She finds that the portrait was painted by another patient named Louise Hall, who got better and married the groundskeeper. Louise turns out to be Celeste's great grandmother! Ivy finds a necklace of Jessie's buried in a box, but loses it when she goes back home for a visit. Charlotte has decided to look for a job so that the family can move to Asheville, so they need to pack up their belongings. Ivy texts Priya to look for it, but she dreams that Jessie tells her that the necklace is where it belongs, and finds it back with the contents of the box. In her research, Ivy finds out that after two years, Jessie was well enough to leave, and had a number of children. She manages to find one of them, Mrs. Williams, who visits Everyly House. When Ivy sings the ballad about Jessie that she has been composing for Mrs. Williams, it turns out to be a tune that her mother sang frequently! Ivy's parents buy a new house, start marriage counseling, and Jessie performs her ballad with her dad's band since she is finally feeling better.
Strengths: Occasionally, there are historical novels that are so good that I have to buy them, even though I don't have as many readers for historical fiction as I would like. This is definitely one of them. I loved the representation of Ivy's illness, the bed and breakfast setting, the parent's marital problems, and the way that the two stories were woven together. I also enjoyed the quiet ways that Ivy found to amuse herself, and how she was able to combine her father's love of the violin with her mother's love of classical music. Ivy's research is realistically portrayed, and it was such fun that she was able to hunt down Jessie's daughter... especially when she calls and ends up talking to a neighbor who is related. I would have absolutely adored this when I was in middle school.
Weaknesses: The house that Ivy's family buys is described as having painted brick that is fresh and inviting. No! Painting brick should be a federal crime. You can't unpaint it. The same goes for wooden furniture. Just... don't. The book has a quiet feel to it, which some readers won't like, but but historical fiction fans will appreciate all of the details about the past.
What I really think: This is a great addition to a middle school collection, since there are so few good representations of COVID, and today's readers barely remember it. Wendell's Light and Air is another good title, and readers who liked Fusco's The Secret of Honeycake, Johnson's The Blossoming Summer, or Jensen's Lilac and the Switchback will be glad to pick this one up as well.

[Rosi Hollinbeck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ivy is struggling to do her regular activities. She just has no energy since she had Covid and subsequently was diagnosed with long Covid. All she wants to do is nap. Sometimes she even falls asleep in school. She can hardly play her violin, something she really loves. Ivy’s mom is a teacher and is always there for her. Her dad is a musician who travels most of the time, but they text every day. When school is out for the summer, Ivy’s mom thinks it would be a good idea for them to get away, and they go to Ivy’s Uncle Cam’s mountain bed and breakfast near Asheville. The place had been a sanatorium in the past, used for treating tuberculosis patients. The patients were young women and girls. Ivy stays in a room that is called Jessie’s room. As time goes on, Ivy feels like she is getting to know Jessie Pearl, one of the patients from the sanatorium, as Jessie visits Ivy’s dreams. Most of the dreams tell Ivy things that turn out to be true. Ivy’s uncle gives Ivy a dulcimer that was in the house, and she teaches herself to play it. Her dad tells her that he wants her to play it with his band when she is better. As the summer comes to a close, Ivy’s mom decides they should move to the mountains to be closer to Uncle Cam and Asheville, where Ivy’s dad’s band can get lots of gigs. Ivy isn’t sure what that will mean to her family and her best friend back home.

Shannon Hitchcock’s writing is simply lovely, and her storytelling skills are terrific. The characters are all very real and well-rounded, and the story is compelling. It is part mystery, part historical fiction, and part family story with some middle-grade friendship problems thrown in. I have long Covid, and somehow I never thought about kids getting it. I always think of young people as being so resilient that they just bounce right back from any illness. It never occurred to me that a young girl like Ivy would suffer so. But Shannon makes all of this very real to her readers, and it makes for a layered, complex story. This is a sweet book young readers will surely love. And those who haven’t read THE BALLAD OF JESSIE PEARL will want to read that book too. It’s always a bonus when kids want to read another book! I wrote this review for my blog, where I specialize in middle-grade books -- https://rosihollinbeck.com/blog.

[Kathy Temean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shannon Hitchcock is known for weaving history into emotionally grounded stories and she continues that reputation with this book Wild Mountain Ivy. Twelve‑year‑old Ivy is recovering from long COVID, months after a “common virus” that leaves her exhausted and unable to play the violin — the thing she loves most. Hoping rest will help, she and her mother spend the summer at her uncle’s bed‑and‑breakfast in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a house with a past life as a 1920s tuberculosis sanatorium.

As Ivy settles into the quiet rhythms of mountain life, she begins having vivid dreams about Jessie Pearl, a spirited TB patient who lived in the same room a century earlier. Jessie, also a young musician, becomes a kind of mirror and mentor across time — a girl who once faced her own frightening illness and learned to listen to her body in new ways.

It is perfect middle grade for Kids ages 10 - 14. Because it is gentle enough for the young children in that range, but rich enough with emotional depth for older middle Grade readers. They will love how Shannon blends contemporary with the past.

Teachers will immediately see how the book can open conversations about chronic illness and empathy and spark discussion about historical context of tuberculosis and public health. Could also encourage talk about self - care, boundaries, and resilience.

Jessie Pearl originally appeared in Hitchcock’s earlier novel The Ballad of Jessie Pearl, making this a meaningful companion for readers who enjoy reading interconnected stories.

[Lori Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate this book as it touched my heart deeply plus this was one cool middle grade novel that I really enjoyed! Poor Ivy! I kept hoping she'd be ok.
I learned much about TB and how it affected different people.
I enjoyed Jesse's part of the story too. Such an odd name for her nephew but I loved it. It certainly was very different.
Uncle Cam and Steve I loved them as individuals but not in a relationship I don't approve sorry.
Im still giving this story 5 stars though because I really loved it. I love coming of age stories.
I didn't want it to end because a wonderful and positive story doesn't come along like this every day. I savored it as much as I could.
I guess there's something else going on but I wont tell. Don't want to give it away! Its a surprise and a good one too!!
Jessie's story is about learning to find one's self again and about the support of family and friends. Love definitely flows through this beautiful story too.
Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book I was NOT required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine 5 stars!
Oh I was sad when it ended. I hope she writes more!

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing about teenage Ivy’s life feels normal anymore. COVID has weakened her body, physically and mentally, to the point where just getting out of bed sometimes feels like a tremendous effort. She no longer has the strength to practice her beloved violin like she used to do, for hours. Plus, with her father constantly traveling with his band, and seeing how this is affecting her parents’ marriage, music just doesn’t seem to matter as much anymore.
When the doctor recommends a complete change of atmosphere, and much rest, in order for Ivy to recover, she and her mom relocate to the B&B in Asheville, NC, that belongs to her uncles. The beautiful old house and grounds were once a sanitarium for tuberculosis patients in the 1920’s. Ivy begins to regain strength from the mountain air and healthful surroundings. She also makes some interesting discoveries about the sanitarium’s former patients, and a startling connection with one in particular…
Set in the time of the COVID pandemic, this mystery is sure to appeal to middle-grade readers!

*I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

[Martha Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this middle grade story of a girl with Long Covid who recovers slowly while convalescing at her uncle’s B&B in Asheville NC. While Ivy recuperates, she spends time learning about a young TB patient named Jesse who convalesced in the same building. The comparisons between communities coping with Covid and TB were good. The supernatural connection between the two girls was less compelling to me. The writing about Ivy's concerns about her parents’ marital issues was stronger. All the characters read white except for one scene of a cook at the home during the TB epidemic. I actually wanted more information about Long Covid and the book skirted that a bit. (I lost a friend to Long Covid.) Definitely a gentle book for those looking for less action and more growth and comfort in their reading. Ages 10 and up.

[Kyle Mendenhall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Through their parallel recoveries, the book explores how determination and compassion can transcend generations. Ivy learns from Jessie’s strength, while Jessie’s story finds new meaning through Ivy’s modern journey. Both women discover that even in the darkest times, healing is not only physical — it’s about reclaiming purpose and learning to move forward.

Kyle Mendenhall

[Meg Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed and loved the concept, but Ivy is a very passive character--everything seems to happen to her. Would've loved to see her be a little more active in solving the mystery. But I really would love to see more long-COVID rep books like this. Fantastic life aha moments Ivy learns that are vital for readers young and old.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ivy is tired—it's been months since she came down with COVID, and she still hasn't really recovered. Even climbing a few steps leaves her depleted, and with her energy she's lost her motivation to play violin, one of the things she loves most. She and her mother decamp to the vicinity of Asheville in the hopes that rest and a change of scenery will help...and Ivy gets entangled in the story of Jessie, a young woman who lived in their bed and breakfast back when it was a sanatorium for tuberculosis.

I really appreciate that most of the people in Ivy's life seem to understand what long COVID means for her—there's brief mention of teachers who were getting annoyed with Ivy falling asleep in class, but by and large there's an understanding that Ivy can't just grin and bear it, that there's still so much that's unknown but the one thing that is likely to help is rest. The people I know with long COVID have all talked about people (even, say, highly educated relatives who work in health care) who just don't get it, and it's a relief that among all the other things that's not something Ivy has to deal with.

The connection to tuberculosis is also really interesting. The comparison I hear more often is one to the 1918–1920 influenza, I suppose because it tore through communities so quickly, but Hitchcock is so right that there are close parallels to be made to experiences with tuberculosis. The injunction to rest, the general exhaustion...and as much as that, the way in which the privileged had the ability to rest and try to recover, while poorer folks had (have) to work through it, in part because of an insufficient social safety net. (Hitchcock is careful to note, through Jessie's history and Ivy's understanding, that those inequalities could have devastating effects.)

I can imagine this being such a good book for middle grade readers who are either struggling with chronic illness themselves or who know somebody who is—it's a quiet story, but one that might serve as a reminder that they aren't alone. They're not the first, and they won't be the last, even if other people's stories aren't quite the same. I struggled a bit with the way in which Jessie's story is told (there's a supernatural element, which I almost never connect with terribly well), but Jessie's story is able to give Ivy a bit of hope, and something to focus on, while she doesn't have the capacity for much else.

3.5 stars for me as a reader, but likely higher for others. Ooh, and look up dulcimer music while you're at it; sound aside, it's very cool to watch someone play.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.