Sheryl Monks

WILKES READS TOGETHER 2010 Book Selection:

Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

When Velva Jean Hart is ten years old, her mother dies suddenly and her father takes off, leaving her and her brothers in the care of their domineering older sister. Velva Jean chafes under Sweet Fern’s stringent discipline and misses her mother terribly, but she is comforted by her close relationship with her brother, the rebellious and charismatic Johnny Clay; her tentative friendship with the mysterious Wood Carver; and her innate and remarkable gift for song.

Velva Jean’s greatest wish growing up is to one day find herself onstage at the Grand Ole Opry. Gradually, though, her dream of stardom is replaced by her desire for the handsome and charming Harley Bright, a juvenile delinquent turned revival preacher. As she grows into a young woman, her volatile relationship with Harley dominates every aspect of her life, until all that survives of her aspirations remains hidden in the hat box she keeps tucked away in a closet. At the same time, she watches her small mountain community become fractured by the construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway, as friends and neighbors take sides over whether the new road is a blight or a blessing. Velva Jean herself must decide whether it’s an “incoming road,” meant to tear apart life as she knows it, or if it’s an “outgoing road” – one that will lead her to a better and more fulfilling life.

Velva Jean Learns to Drive brings to life that part of Appalachia known as the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains and reveals how, in the mid-twentieth century, the construction of New Deal projects meant to revitalize America nearly destroyed some of its oldest communities. Simultaneously, it tells an inspiring coming-of-age story, in which a talented young woman begins to believe in herself and a destiny beyond her childhood home.

Visit Jennifer's publisher Penguin Group, Inc.