YA -Girl in small mountain (mine?) town

I read a novel, probably a decade and a half ago, about a girl living in a small town that I think may have been a mine town. The girl befriends a boy and he ends up dying in an explosion toward the end. All through the book there is some kind of dispute and tensions over the land or mines, not really sure. I keep thinking it is set in Virginia, but that may not even be true. I can't remember what time period the book is set in, but I think before the 1980's.. The book itself either came out in the late '90s or early 2000s. I remember reading it around the same time that I read A Painted House by John Grisham, so for years I thought that was the title of it until I looked it up and released I had it mixed up. I keep thinking it was a new release and that I had ordered it, but it could also have been a library loan. I wish I could remember more. I've searched Google to no end and even Wikipedia's list of books that came out each year to see if something would ring a bell. Any help would be appreciated.

Definitely David Baldacci's wonderful Wish You Well, recently made into a movie, though I've yet to see it.

That is it!!! I just saw your message and I actually ended up figuring it out a couple days ago by doing an advanced search that amazon has. At first I thought it wasn't it, but then I realized that it had to be after I googled spoilers for it. I definitely have to re-read it and watch the movie! Thanks so much.