Shannon Hitchcock Writes a Sequel (13 years later)

Middle grade fans are in for a treat -- coming March 3, 2026. Shannon Hitchcock's forthcoming novel, Wild Mountain Ivy, is a sequel to her historical fiction The Ballad of Jessie Pearl, and let me tell you, the thirteen year wait was worth it! Not only that, I've got a cover reveal for a 13-year old novel ... Read on!

Shannon Hitchcock writes middle grade and picture books. Many of her stories are inspired by her childhood growing up on a North Carolina farm. The Ballad of Jessie Pearl, published in 2013, was her first. That book, based on Shannon's own family history, is set in North Carolina in the 1920s, during the tuberculosis outbreak. The TB pandemic upends 14-year-old Jessie Pearl's plans for her future as she must stay home and take care of her nephew and the family farm. You can read more about Shannon's writing process here.

Although a friend urged Shannon to write a sequel about what happened next in Jessie Pearl's life, she turned instead to other writing projects, both fiction and nonfiction. Then Covid-19 arrived. 

While she was writing about tuberculosis, Shannon never suspected she'd live through a subsequent pandemic herself. But the arrival of Covid brought inspiration for the plot of a Jessie Pearl sequel. As Shannon contemplated the similarities between the two pandemics, she decided to write a ghost story weaving together the stories of two young protagonists from two different pandemics, a century apart. 

In Wild Mountain Ivy, 12-year-old Ivy is suffering from long Covid. Hoping it will help her to rest and recover, Ivy's mother takes her to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina for the summer. Ivy's uncle owns an inn there, an inn that was once a tuberculosis sanitarium. Ivy becomes intrigued with the mystery of the fate of a long-ago sanitarium resident, Jessie Pearl. Without spoiling the story, I can say there's a bit of the supernatural in this tale about illness and resilience, music and family, healing and hope. I particularly enjoyed the musical elements, including watching Ivy learn to play the dulcimer, and the actual Ballad of Jessie Pearl. This is a lovely, heartfelt, and uplifting read.

And there's some bonus good news. Years ago, the original Ballad of Jessie Pearl publisher, namelos, closed down and returned all rights to the authors. In March, after being out of print for some time, The Ballad of Jessie Pearl will be back! Lerner/Carolrhoda Books, in addition to publishing the sequel, is re-releasing The Ballad of Jessie Pearl, with brand new cover art. Ta-DA!

New Cover, 2026

Wild Mountain Ivy is available for pre-order now. You can order direct from the publisher here, at IndieBound here, or visit your favorite local bookseller. You'll be glad you did! 

Shannon Hitchcock lives in Asheville, North Carolina, where she can see the mountains. She is the author of many books for children, including Flying Over Water, cowritten with N.H. Senzai (a Kirkus Best Book of the Year) and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Dancing in the Storm, co-written with Amie Darnell Specht. Visit her website to find out more.