He was a boy with a sense of adventure, interested in traversing the boundaries of his Appalachian community of Cane Valley and beyond. However, for Zachary "Zack" Stewart, what drove his excitement most was a love of boats and the desire to become a sailor for the Great White Fleet, the United States Navy. In These Mountains Are My Home, a coming-of-age, historical novel by author Charles B. Shanks Jr., Zack is a young man prompted by the Great Depression and his supportive family to achieve his dreams, which serves him well as he embarks on a naval career. The future becomes brighter when Zack meets and marries Gwen, starting a new life as parents. Their happiness is tested when Zack is overseas during World War II, fighting U-boats in the Atlantic, and wartime separation is felt in the family. Yet in hardship is when faith in God shines most.