Digging a Hole to Heaven: Coal Miner Boys

Realistic acrylic illustrations sit alongside b&w archival photographs to tell the story of the boys who worked in the coal mines of 19th- and early-20th-century America. Nelson (Buffalo Bird Girl) uses Conall, a fictional 12-year-old Irish-American, and his mule, Angel, to craft a descriptive narrative around a typical day in the mine. “Conall, his face black with soot, rode on the front bumper of the empty car. The only light came from the yellow flame of his oil headlamp.” Conall sings an Irish folk song about streams and birdsong while he works, poignantly highlighting the stark difference between above ground and the bleak environment where he spends his youth. Sidebars accompanying the photographs detail the different jobs boys performed as trappers, spraggers, breaker boys, and more. Extensive author notes offer brief histories of child and animal labor, robber barons, unions, and the Industrial Revolution, as each relates to coal mining. In a sometimes didactic, yet thought-provoking tone, Nelson brings his work of historical fiction into the present with discussions of climate change and current child labor abuses. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)