Sitting on Top of the World

By Cheryl King

Winner of the 2022 Eric Hoffer Award, Young Adult Category and a First Horizon Award

June Baker has lived a mostly idyllic life on her family’s small farm in Maynardville, Tennessee. They don’t have much, but they are rich in love and happiness. But when the Great Depression spreads misery throughout America, June’s family is hit hard, and she finds she must make sacrifices she’d never imagined.

As her family suffers setback after setback, her beloved brother goes train hopping to find work. In a tragic twist of fate, fourteen-year-old June ends up train hopping herself. Riding the rails tests her resolve like nothing before, but what she comes home to just might crush her.

In this debut by Cheryl King, spunky and lovable June goes from sitting on top of the world to carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders in a coming-of-age tale about family, friendship, love, loss, and hope.