I’m fascinated by birth order. There is so much about the stereotypes of oldest, middle, youngest, and only children that’s true, especially in large families.
The Molehill Family in Julie Stroebel Barichello’s The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill perfectly represents the personalities and dynamic of living in a large family, particularly families who live in a small town. This leads to a lot of chaos but also a lot of camaraderie. Below is my review of The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill followed by an interview with Barichello about her book.
The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill plot summary
Set between the end of summer 2000 to the spring of 2001, The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill follows the Molehill family of seven who live in Pickettstown, IL. They’re a pretty normal family, though they’re considered outcasts of the town thanks to their heritage and the fact that the snobbier people in town turn their noses down at them for their simpler lifestyle. Think of them as the Goonies if they were all related.
Mr. Molehill works as the town’s mailman. When he sees his friend, Bo Jasper, is arrested for attempting to paint his house an unapproved color according to Mayor Pickett, Mr. Molehill decides to run for mayor to change some of the oppressive rules of the town.
The family is behind Mr. Molehill’s long shot of a noble quest, but they also know that this puts an even larger target on their backs. The kids ban together to support their father’s campaign, but a lot of their attempts to do good for the campaign go wrong and lead to scrutiny in the local paper and the small town’s general gossip chain. Still, they are determined to press on and get their dad a victory so that he, the family, and their small group of supporters can make things better for the entire town.
The story
The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill is such a well-told classic underdog/outcast story about a tight-knit family who would do anything for each other, even if they do sometimes want to kill each other. The story is primarily told from the middle child, Dempsey’s point of view.
Dempsey is a well-intentioned preteen boy, yet he can also be overly passionate and vengeful when he feels wronged, whether it’s by one of his siblings or the fellow residents of Pickettstown. This puts him into some controversial situations, such as getting himself wrapped up in his sister’s curse on the town’s Halloween-hating priest or nearly blowing up his best friend’s kitchen by trying to make homemade gunpowder.
Each chapter is centered around whatever event or holiday is going on that month, giving it a very Beverly Cleary-like episodic feel. We get to see the seasons change and the campaign heat up as the months progress.
There are also some great early 2000s references that really helped me to see the nostalgia in an era which I still tend to think happened not too long ago, but when I see what the Molehill kids do for fun, it helps to see that they are one of the last generations to work, play, and communicate in a very traditional way. It also removes all of the distractions of modern tech so that both the mini and major conflicts are very hands on and appropriately so. It makes the kids more outdoorsy, innovative, and adventurous.
The characters
Let’s do a roll call of the Molehill children. There’s the oldest, Brom, a 19-year-old mechanic in training who basically does his own thing but is there when needed, particularly when his mom needs him to work on the family car. Next in line is Tilly, the bossy oldest daughter who is very driven, organized, and crabby, as most oldest sisters are.
The middle child, Dempsey, longs to be treated as one of the older kids, but he mostly gets lumped in with the younger ones, unless he’s in trouble. It doesn’t help his cause to be taken more seriously when he spends a lot of his time with the younger kids, Penn and Bandi, two resourceful and cunning elementary school aged children.
Despite being treated as the uncultured hillbillies of the town, the Molehill household is actually a pretty well-oiled machine. There are hijinks and antics, but no more than any other big family, and their parents have pretty good control while still giving the kids a long leash in order to be themselves. The only problem is that being themselves can now cost their father the election.
The others in town are a collection of allies and foils. I especially love Ms. Crow, the town “witch” who supports the Molehill family in her own eerie, crotchety way. Other supporters are those who no longer want to live under Mayor Picketts’ “my way or the highway” thumb. Then, there are the gossipy Karens and Pickettstown loyalists.
Together, they create a flavorful soup of personalities that make the town feel very real, colorful, and eclectic, despite the mayor’s push for conformity. And the Molehill family are the eye of that original storm.
My recommendation
I recommend The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill to anyone who loves funny books with an idealistic message told realistically. It’s well-balanced, makes you feel like a character in the story, and it’s a feel good story, even when things are going horribly wrong.
The purpose of this story is essentially to entertain. It feels like a family comedy with laughs mixed with a poignant message about family, loyalty, and standing up for what you believe in without shoving any direct points at the reader. You get to know the family, you love the family, and you want them to succeed and for all of their haters to love them as much as you do.
My rating
An interview with Julie Stroebel Barichello
The story kicks off with a conflict over artistic expression and landowner rights. What do you want readers to take away from Bo Jasper’s inciting incident?
When Bo Jasper clashes with Councilman Baxter and Mayor Jim in the opening chapter, I want readers to pick a side. Maybe they believe Mayor Jim is right and that Bo’s green house is an eyesore. Or maybe they agree with Dempsey and believe Bo should be allowed to express himself. There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer (although the story takes Bo’s side, since it’s told from Dempsey’s point of view).
A significant part of the book is about standing up for your beliefs and using the democratic process to promote the issues that are important to you. One of the biggest takeaways I hope young readers internalize is that government isn’t an abstract, distant idea. It’s very close to home, and anyone can take part in democracy to seek changes they believe are needed.
Pickettstown is a very classic small town with its own unique character. Is it modeled off of any particular real-life town?
Pickettstown isn’t a reflection of one specific place. It’s more of an amalgamation of the small Illinois towns where I grew up, with a hefty scoop of imagination mixed in.
Most of the time, the small towns around me are calm and easygoing, but every so often an issue arises that causes community rifts and squabbles. A few years back, one of the towns in my area had a year-long feud about a resident raising chickens in his backyard. It involved multiple articles in the newspaper and courtroom battles and a referendum on an election ballot before the matter was settled. (The resident was able to keep his chickens, by the way.)
If you could have any job in Pickettstown, what would it be?
Definitely a reporter for the Pickettstown Post. My background is in journalism, and small community newspapers hold a special place in my heart. Whenever I travel, I always buy a copy of the local paper. They have so much local flavor in them.
What made you want to tell the story from the middle child, Dempsey’s, point of view?
I think it was important to tell the story from Dempsey’s position in the middle of the family because he would have the most overlap with all of the siblings. As a preteen, he’s old enough to spend time with the two older siblings and be part of their world, but he’s still young enough to get looped into some of the mischief of the two younger siblings.
The story takes place in 2000 and 2001. Did you do any research on these years to come up with any of the pop culture references made in the story? Do you have a favorite memory or moment from that era?
The pop culture references were a mix of research and memory. I grew up in the late ’90s and early aughts, so I remember Britney Spears releasing her first album in 1999 and Shrek hitting theaters in 2001. As I get older, though, some years blur together, so I double checked quite a few dates and had to refresh my memory on who ran for president against George W. Bush in 2000.
I have two favorite bits of nostalgia from that era. The first is the Backstreet Boys Millennium album—I would listen to it on repeat for hours on my Sony Discman, and I spent a lot of my time as a preteen dancing (badly) to it. My other favorite bit of nostalgia is when ABC ran the TGIF programming block on Friday nights, particularly when it aired Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
You write at the end of the book that the story is very loosely based on some real-life events. What advice do you have for writers who want to write fictionalized versions of true events?
It’s common to fictionalize global-scale or historical events like wars or the Great Depression, but when it comes to fictionalizing small, personal events such as those in The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill, it’s like balancing on a tightrope.
Some of the mischief caused by Dempsey and his siblings was inspired by events from my parents’ childhood, so it’s important to not misrepresent any private citizens. The more fictional and original details a writer can weave into the source material, the better. Keep the framework of the real-life incident that inspired the story but flesh out the story with purely fictional characters and/or surrounding circumstances.
Do you have a favorite character? How about a favorite non-spoiler moment?
As much as I love Dempsey after years of writing and seeing the world through his eyes, Bandi is probably my favorite. She was so much fun to write. Maybe one day I’ll write a companion novel told from her POV.
It’s hard to pick a favorite moment, although I love every scene where Scrap the one-eared cat causes havoc. The dynamic between Dempsey’s mom and Grandpa Molehill was also one of my favorite parts of the book. Grandpa Molehill is the family’s OG mischief-maker and instigator, so whenever he comes to stay, Mom basically has another overgrown kid to wrangle.
Will we see the Molehill family in any future stories?
I can’t guarantee it, but I also can’t rule it out. The Mountain of Dempsey Molehill only covers a year in their life, so there’s a lot of untapped potential for future stories involving the Molehill family.
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