Book Title: Grandpa's Mountain

Author: Carolyn Reeder

Published by: Macmillan Publishing, June 1993

Curriculum Developer: Vanica L. Crane

Summary: Eleven-year old Carrie has loved spending summers with her grandparents in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Their farm, with a country store and lunchroom, is safe and far removed from the terrible Depression that grips most of the nation. But this summer, the lives of all the people who have called the mountains home for generations, will be changed forever. The government is creating a national park and buying or condemning anyone or thing that stands in its way. While Grandma is secretly preparing for the worst, Grandpa is outraged, and vows never to move. Carrie wants to believe in Grandpa and his faith in his constitutional rights, but eventually, she knows she too will have to prepare for the worst.

Social Studies Relevance:

1) This book brings a new perspective on important issues in social studies. Students will be learning about yet another time in history when a group of people had their lands taken for what was supposedly "the good of the nation."

2) This book is set during the Great Depression, a time of great economic stress for our nation. Many young people today know little or nothing about this time, and this book points out just a few of the difficulties endured then.

3) Grandpa believes firmly that his constitutional right is to keep his land. This is brought up often in the book, as well as different governmental systems and positions.

4) This book illustrates beautifully the various ways people deal with hard times and change. Moral issues are touched: Should Grandpa give up his land, or stay and fight? The psychological stress felt by the characters is of utmost importance.

Grade Level: 5

Relationship to Social Studies State Core:

1) Students will create individually, or in groups, one or more of the following: newspapers, posters, poetry, interviews, surveys, letter writings, diaries, or songs.

2) Students will evaluate with other class members right and wrong actions, according to universal standards, as being morally acceptable or unacceptable.

3) Students will analyze the effects that the United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence have on the lives of students.

4) Students will analyze how the historical past of the Western Hemisphere influences the present.

5) Students will use maps to explain the geographic setting of historical and current events.

6) Students will explain how history is effected by patterns of buying and selling which relate to economic choices and ultimately to available resources.

7) Students will explain the scope and limits of freedom in a democratic society.

8) Students will identify major values in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

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