Sitting on Top of the World

2022 Eric Hoffer First Horizon Award Winner Young Adult Winner Grand Prize FinalistFourteen-year-old June Baker never in a million years thought shed be dressing like a boy sneaking into a hobo camp and jumping onto a moving freight train to travel across the state of Tennessee. But thats what she has to do to find work so her familys farm can survive. Its 1933 and the Great Depression is spreading misery throughout America. Where once June was sitting on top of the world now shes carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Once she was picking fruit from the pawpaw trees and now shes picking up the pieces of a family torn apart. Once she was climbing and falling from trees and now shes jumping from moving trains. June knows the risks. What she doesnt know is that the railroad bull shes falling for has a devastating secret that will change the course of her life. Journey with June in Sitting on Top of the World a historical fiction tale about family friendship love loss and hope. Sitting on Top of the World bridges the gap between middle grade and young adult and is a book that middle school and high school teachers can be proud to include in their classroom library or in reading instruction.Content warning: Some instances of physical violence death mention of suicide mention of miscarriage and characters encounter racial bigotry.