Anybody Shining

by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Can one mistake destroy the chance of a lifetime? A girl discovers there are many ways of being true in this magnificent ode to handwritten letters and the shining power of friendship from the author of Dovey Coe, set in the Appalachian mountains of 1920s North Carolina. One true friend. Someone shining. That's all twelve-year-old Arie Mae wants. But shining true friends are hard to come by deep in the mountains of western North Carolina, so she sets her sights on a cousin unseen, someone who lives all the way away in the big city of Baltimore, Maryland. Three unanswered letters later, Arie Mae learns that a group of kids from Baltimore are coming to spend a summer on the mountain. Arie Mae loves her smudge of a town-she knows there's nothing finer than Pa's fiddling and Mama's apple cake, but she also knows Big City folk might feel differently. How else to explain the song catcher ladies who have descended upon the village in search of “traditional tunes"" and their intention to help “save"" the townspeople? But when the gro

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Friendship, Historical, Young Adult, Juvenile, Childrens

1 pages, Audio CD

First published August 26, 2014

About the author

While Frances O'Roark Dowell (Dovey Coe, The Secret Language of Girls, Trouble the Water) is best known for her award-winning novels, she also hosts the popular "Off-Kilter Quilt" podcast, where she talks about her latest quilt projects with friends and fellow quilters around the globe. Her own little corner of the globe is Durham, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, two sons, and a dog named Travis. Connect with her online at FrancesDowell.com.

Reviews

[Trinity]

This book "Anybody Shining", is about a girl named Arie Mae who lives out in the country in the mountains. Arie Mae wants more than anything to make her mother happy , and she knows that the only way to do so is to make friends. In her town a lot of families come in from Baltimore to help add in a new school where the "mountain children" can learn. In this book people bully these country folks saying that they are "filthy animals that are highly unsanitary and whom should not be trusted" this is one of the horrible things that the character Miss.Pitman wrote about in a letter. Arie Mae has no friends, but then learns about her cousin Caroline who lives in Reliagh with her aunt Anna. Arie Mae loves to write and when she meets Tom, one of the kids from Baltimore who shares the same interest they become friends. But, what Arie Mae didn't know about Tom was that he has a weak heart and should not be athletic like other boys. After Arie Mae and Tom hike up the mountain to Odom's house Tom gets ill and has to go back to Baltimore. After that Arie Mae finds Tom's notebook and just knows that she has to give it back to him! After writing Caroline so many letters Arie Mae gives up on her cousin and decides then to only care about Tom. But soon after that Arie Mae and her mom recieve a ton of mail! The only question is from whom?

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly Appalachian

Such a beautiful, true, honest voice in Arie Mae. I felt like I was reading about my own grandmother's history.

[Valerie Cotnoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, sweet book with endearing characters. ❤

[Suzanne Maley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten that I had read this before. Listening to read in a Southern accent made the story even more delightful. I always enjoy Frances O’Roark Dowell’s books.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to get my complaint out of the way first, especially because it has nothing to do with the actual content of the story: My biggest complaint was with the text - why oh why do publishers insist on printing in anything other than black!? The red text was hard enough to read, but the faded red on the letters was extremely difficult and I know a number of people who would not be able to read this book simply because of the text color.

Now to reviewing the actual story:
This was a sweet slice of life in the North Carolina mountains in the 20s. I liked how it called out some of the problematic issues with some of the people that came into the mountains to "help" without vilifying them.
I liked the voice of Arie Mae and her letters. I liked the rise and fall of the story and the use of stories throughout the book to tie people together and help friendships develop.

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trying to be Fair and Tender Ladies for middle graders, I guess. Just comes off like "Sure is nice up here in the mountains, with all the songcatchers and dried apples and whatnot". I'm too hard-hearted against non-mountain people writing mountain books to go for this one.

Also, the text is printed in two colors of sepia-tone. In case you didn't get that this is OLD TIMEY.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

So enjoyable- It made me want to sit down and write a letter.

[Chloe Cotnoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It was amazing and so full of life and fun. The writing and the characters were just perfect. Highly recommend.

[Alandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've experienced in a long time! The writer's voice for the main character was absolutely perfect, and the author's research into that time and place rang true. As an Appalachian, it was especially refreshing to read about things like the Songcatchers and other outsiders from the perspective of those they came to see and hear. To paraphrase one character, "The missionaries came to tell us about Jesus, but they didn't know we was already saved!"
There were so many times when I laughed out loud. I listened to the audiobook recording read by Suzy Jackson, and she was marvelous. Her accent was on point and each character had a distinct voice, and her reading of Harlan turned him into the funniest and most endearing character.
I liked this book so much I bought a hard copy to read. I wasn't excited to see that the print isn't black, which will make it harder to read, but this book is worth it.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ari Mae Sparks is a "mountain girl" through and through. She loves her community. She loves the music and the stories and the people. Why should she be ashamed of where she lives. Sure, sometimes outsiders don't understand their ways ... but that doesn't mean their ways our wrong.

Her mother has given Ari Mae a special task. She is to write to her cousin Caroline. See, Ari Mae's mother hasn't seen her sister since she left the mountains and became a doctor's wife. It's like she wants to forget where she came from. So Ari Mae begins writing to her cousin, telling her about her life in the mountains, describing in great detail the joys of her life and the frustrations of her life. But why won't cousin Caroline respond?

Such a beautiful novel about life in a community and the joy of having traditions and people with which to share them.

[Sonia Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story unfolds through a series of beautifully written letters. We learn about mountain life in North Carolina as seen through the eyes of Arie Mae, a lonely child in search of one true friend. When she meets Tom, a city boy, she sees an opportunity and will do anything to secure that friendship. It's a summer of discovery; finding joy and belonging in the traditions and tales of home.

[Flesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living in the mountains of North Carolina, Arie Mae feels pretty lonely as there are no people her age in her small community. She begins to write letters to a cousin she has never met in Raleigh, NC and meets some kids from Baltimore. Life takes some interesting turns in this story about building community.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story. Very sweet and thoughtful.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Youth book that held my interest. Set in the mountains of NC, it reminded me of the beauty and mystery the the Appalachians. I miss being in a green place.

[Dana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun summer read. Would be great for elementary school kids.

[Felicity Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story and you are invested in Arie May from the start. The dialect brings the story to life.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great one for my granddaughters.

[Jan]

1920's

[Amy Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frances O'Roark Dowell always manages to capture the mountain voice perfectly.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good elementary read. Families and fortunes

[Grace Enright · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I've ever read. So it was about a girl who thinks no one is good enough to be her friend. In my opinion it is very boring and repetitive.

[Skylar BB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice story.
To me, it seemed like a mixture of "Polly Anna" by Eleanor H. Porter with "Treasures of the Snow" by Patricia St. John.
There's only one thing that I don't quite agree here with author that is persistence is the key (sending like 16 letters), sometimes you gotta know when to give up and let go. A relative (or anyone) whom you have to beg to create a bond with you is not worth it.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

12-year-old Arie Mae loves living in the Appalachian Mountains. She is so proud of her mother, who sings the old songs like an angel and her father who loves modern and traditional music. All that is missing in her life is a best friend. Arie Mae starts writing letters to her cousin who lives far away in Baltimore and whose mother had grown up in the mountains. After sending letter after letter, Arie Mae gets no response, but continues writing anyway, sharing the details of her life and adventures. Then Arie Mae gets another chance to make a new friend. A group of children from Baltimore are coming to the mountains along with the song catcher ladies, who will record the traditional songs and who have also created a new school for people to learn traditional crafts that can then be sold. Arie Mae knows right away that she won’t be friends with the bossy girl who looks down on the mountain children. But there is a boy with a limp who loves to hear the traditional stories and refuses to let his limp stop him from exploring. His mother warns Arie Mae that he should not exert himself much because of his health, but nothing is going to slow either of them down now that they are friends and there are woods and mountains to discover together.

Dowell writes with a beauty that brings the Appalachians to life. She captures the lifestyle of these people without flinching from the poverty that they live in, but also revealing the incredible simplicity of this life that makes it possible. She shows the tension between traditional ways of life and the modern world in a very developed way, where the outsiders are the ones who want the traditions to continue and their lives to be undisturbed by modern conventions. This is a beautiful novel about the power of writing, the question of whether those living in the mountains need saving, and the quest for a best friend.

Arie Mae is a wonderful character. She is the lens through which we see the mountains and it is her love for them that appears on the page. So does her voice, which is clarion clear and written with the rhythm of the mountains entwined in it. Here is a passage from page 22 of the e-galley where she writes to her cousin about how writing has changed her:

"I have found that since I started writing letters to you I’ve been paying close attention to all the doings and comings and goings of a day. It’s like saving secrets to share with a friend late in the evening, when the lights are dimmed but for a single lantern hanging on a neighbor’s porch across the holler."

These are the sorts of images shared throughout the book, sprinkled throughout. The setting of the mountains is as much a character on the page as Arie Mae is. And it is brought to life just as vividly.

Strongly written, with beautiful passages, this novel for middle graders invites them to spend time with Arie Mae in the mountains and to join in the adventures. Appropriate for ages 9-12.

[Gabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Reading this book took me back to when I was a little girl reading all the classics that I could get my hands on. There is something about Arie Mae that reminded me of the heroines in those stories--in fact, the whole book felt a bit like that.

Arie Mae is a protagonist you can't help but like. She's quite loveable, adventurous, and somewhat headstrong. I loved reading her letters to Caroline. There were parts of her personality that reminded me a bit of Anne Shirley of Green Gables, (something that probably added to that opinion is that Arie Mae uses the term 'own true friend', which is a bit like Anne's 'kindred spirits.') which made me like her even more.

The book takes place on the Appalachian mountains in the 1920s. I loved how authentic it felt; it was almost as if I had been transported to that time and place. Something that I really appreciated was the fact that the historical aspect wasn't obnoxiously 'obvious'; the author didn't constantly have to 'remind' the reader that, 'HEY THIS IS HISTORICAL FICTION!!!' (If you can't tell, I don't like that very much.)

I know I mentioned the letters before, but I would like to go a bit more in depth about them. They are really fun to read. Arie Mae's voice is so strong in them, and they really were the cherry on top of the cake for this book. The book isn't told completely in letters, but they start and end the chapters. I loved starting new chapters of this book just so I could read a new letter from Arie Mae. They were great.

So, if you like historical fiction, and I would dare to say that even if you don't, I recommend giving this book a try. It's a really, really good story.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in true southern lingo I absolutely loved the story & the dialogue; it was so much fun to read and is definitely a feel good story.

About the book:

The story is based on the main character Arie Mae who wants nothing more in life than to have a good friend. Where she lives in North Carolina there are many kids around except Arie feels none of them are worth “her 2 cents”. Arie’s mom tells her about a cousin, Caroline, she has and suggests they become friends (Her sister’s daughter). Arie’s cousin resides in Raleigh and comes from a family with money (her dad is a doctor). The story is told through the letters Arie writes to her cousin. Arie’s cousin never writes back and in each letter Arie guesses reasons why an apologizes for any misfortunes her cousin may have.

While Arie writes to her cousin a group of kids come down from Baltimore to visit a Songcathers’ Settlement School. The Songcatchers’ Settlement school is where kids can go to learn practical things: how to make baskets and chairs to sell off the mountain, so they don’t have to so poor, and how to practice good habits of health and hygiene. Among the kids that come down from Baltimore Arie scopes out a boy named Tom and makes it her mission to become good friends with him.

******SPOILER******

Tom goes home to Baltimore, A letter comes in from Arie’s Aunt explaining that she did not show the letters to Caroline until she decided to write a letter home to her sister and it is decided that Cousin Caroline and Aunt Anna will come to visit. At the end Arie ends up with two good friends!

[Zach Koenig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often times while reading a book that is categorized as YA, the reader (if an adult) gets the distinct feeling that they are reading a YA book. I have typically found that the best literature, however, contains themes that can appeal to all readers, not just a segmented few. In the case of “Anybody Shining”, that is very much the case.

For a basic plot summary, this book is set in the Appalachian mountains of 1920s North Carolina (making it very much historical fiction). It focuses on a 12-year old girl named Arie Mae Sparks, who is having an awful time making (or keeping) friends. When Arie discovers that she has a cousin living in the “big city”, she begins a letter-writing campaign to try and become friends with the long-lost relative. Through those letters, readers are introduced to the decidedly rural experience of Arie Mae, for better or worse.

Though told exclusively through a child’s perspective, this story contains many themes that anyone can relate to. There is a strong current of “old ways” vs. “new ways” that runs through the text, along with Arie discovering what it mean (or doesn’t mean) to be “civilized”.

Simply put, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed “Anybody Shining”. It didn’t look like it would appeal to a grown man from the cover and the description, but as the pages continued to turn I discovered that I wanted to keep going to see how all the characters would turn out. Strongly recommended for all young adults…and then for their parents to steal it and dive in after they are done!

[Stacy Sabala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review- Anybody Shining by Frances O’Roark Dowell


Twelve year old Arie Mae Sparks doesn’t have a best friend and she is very unsettled about it. She decides to write to her cousin Caroline whom she has never met to see if they can be friends. Arie Mae lives in Stone Gap, North Carolina in the mountains and Caroline is from the big city of Raleigh. Arie Mae continually writes letters telling Caroline what is happening to her on the mountain. She tells stories, explains traditions and reveals her feelings. She excels at ghost stories. She doesn’t receive any letters back but she continues to write. Her mama tells her not to give up.
The reader gets to read every letter as the author did a fabulous job using them to write the story. I thought it a creative way to grab the reader and keep them involved in the story. As a result the story was fun to read, full of adventure and fun that children living in the mountains of North Carolina had.
Arie Mae and her family were excellent characters set in the 1920s. The time, however, doesn’t really play much of a role. Kids play, have adventures, and have pride in where they are from no matter what the year. The themes are universal.
It is a great read for children to see the differences of time and location, but that people are similar. A very cute story that I recommend to any reader. I give it a 4 out of 5.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A poignant story of trying to fulfill the deep ache for friendship in an isolated setting. Arie Mae is unable to find a true best friend within her small NC mountain community, so she decides to begin a correspondence with the cousin in Raleigh that she's never met. Despite receiving no response, she continues to write. Each letter is a new chapter that details her everyday life along with the effects of the arrival of a small band of children from Baltimore who come with their families to establish a traditional crafts school.

Author Dowell gently conveys issues of classism as she juxtaposes the different lifestyles and has Arie Mae reflect on her feelings of embarrassment and inferiority. I especially liked the treatment given to the songcatcher women who came to the mountains to preserve the ballads -- I hadn't before considered that what they were looking for was a time already passed even in the 20s.

Arie Mae is a lovely protagonist: strong willed, thoughtful, and persistent. Her vernacular and writing style easily convey the mountain accent without putting the reader off.

A sweet without being saccharine exploration of a historical period with relevance to my area's audience.

[Fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arie Mae (the main character) is full of personality and she has all the scary stories and spunk to back it up. She's extremely likeable, but because she lives in the thick mountains of NC, friends are hard to come by. This summer, as songcatchers open a school for the mountain children, and children visit from far away places, we find Arie Mae sharing her experiences by letter with a cousin she's never met. Her cousin Caroline doesn't respond and Arie Mae worries that it's because her mother married a doctor and left her family in the mountains many years before. Whether it be tromping through the woods spotting bears or hunting local ghosts, Arie Mae is always up to something. She's making new friends, learning to stand up for her way of life and family, and rekindling broken family ties that have been broken for too long. Told from Arie Mae's point of view, you can't help but enjoy and love the mountain language and humor. This is a great read for children ages 8 to 12. I can also see this book being read aloud to a group and added to a unit on writing letters. Is that still a thing? Oh well, ... historically speaking... of course. ;)

[Annarose Brantley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it she always finds the best way to fix things and she has a wild imagination I like how hard she tried to get a holed of her cousin and she always has fun in her nabor hood!