Describe M.C.'s way of life

Mayo Cornelius Higgins is a boy on the verge of becoming a teenager. He worries about his family’s safety on the mountain where they live. The coal industry has strip mined their mountain and left sludge behind that is threatening to bring part of the mountain down on their house. M.C. is trying to get his family away from the mountain by getting his mother to sing for a man who is taping the voices of the hill people. He believes the man can make her a star. As M.C. begins to mature and feel the connection of the mountain, he begins to think of how to safe the family home rather than abandoning it.