Review: "Wild Mountain Ivy" by Shannon Hitchcock

Wild Mountain Ivy by Shannon Hitchcock
Published March 2026 via Carolrhoda Books
★★★

Ivy is tired—it's been months since she came down with COVID, and she still hasn't really recovered. Even climbing a few steps leaves her depleted, and with her energy she's lost her motivation to play violin, one of the things she loves most. She and her mother decamp to the vicinity of Asheville in the hopes that rest and a change of scenery will help...and Ivy gets entangled in the story of Jessie, a young woman who lived in their bed and breakfast back when it was a sanatorium for tuberculosis.

I really appreciate that most of the people in Ivy's life seem to understand what long COVID means for her—there's brief mention of teachers who were getting annoyed with Ivy falling asleep in class, but by and large there's an understanding that Ivy can't just grin and bear it, that there's still so much that's unknown but the one thing that is likely to help is rest. The people I know with long COVID have all talked about people (even, say, highly educated relatives who work in health care) who just don't get it, and it's a relief that among all the other things that's not something Ivy has to deal with.

The connection to tuberculosis is also really interesting. The comparison I hear more often is one to the 1918–1920 influenza, I suppose because it tore through communities so quickly, but Hitchcock is so right that there are close parallels to be made to experiences with tuberculosis. The injunction to rest, the general exhaustion...and as much as that, the way in which the privileged had the ability to rest and try to recover, while poorer folks had (have) to work through it, in part because of an insufficient social safety net. (Hitchcock is careful to note, through Jessie's history and Ivy's understanding, that those inequalities could have devastating effects.)

I can imagine this being such a good book for middle grade readers who are either struggling with chronic illness themselves or who know somebody who is—it's a quiet story, but one that might serve as a reminder that they aren't alone. They're not the first, and they won't be the last, even if other people's stories aren't quite the same. I struggled a bit with the way in which Jessie's story is told (there's a supernatural element, which I almost never connect with terribly well), but Jessie's story is able to give Ivy a bit of hope, and something to focus on, while she doesn't have the capacity for much else.

3.5 stars for me as a reader, but likely higher for others. Ooh, and look up dulcimer music while you're at it; sound aside, it's very cool to watch someone play.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.