Rebecca Patrick-Howard

Furnace Mountain Rebecca Patrick-Howard

The small, mountain town of Furnace Mountain, Kentucky is dying.





In 1936 the Great Depression has taken its toll and with the bank taking businesses and farms, it feels like there are more boarded-up storefronts than there are people left. When 9-year-old Sam writes a letter to President Roosevelt and invites him to visit the once vibrant railroad town, nobody but Sam expected an answer. Now, however, the residents must come together and pull their limited resources to prepare for the president's impending arrival. They have three months to rebuild their town and remind themselves of what they once were.





Nobody in this modern fable reminiscent of Stone Soup could have guessed at what would happen on the day President Roosevelt came to town.