Shelly's Book Blog

I enjoyed Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars so much, I decided to read Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, which was also a Newbery Honor Book (2005). I am amazed at how different these two stories are. The story of Lizzie Bright takes place in 1911 and is based on a real historical event where the residients of Malaga, which is an island off the coast of Maine, were ordered to leave. These people were largely the poor descendants of former slaves, but according to the author's note, others were "Portuguese, Irish, Scottish, African American, others not accepted in Phippsburg for whatever reason". Lizzie is a girl who lives in this community, and she meets Turner Buckminster when his family moves to Phippsburg so that his father can be the new minister for the town. The two kids hit if off right away, but their friendship is viewed with suspician and disapproval because Turner is white and Lizzie is "a Negro girl". At one point Turner's parents forbid him to visit the island, or even to go to the coast where he can view the island. Turner, despite his upbringing as an obedient minister's son, discovers ways to visit with Lizzie anyway. For example, his father has ordered him to play the organ for one of the old women in the town, Mrs. Cobb, and after a while Lizzie comes to listen, too.

Schmidt remains true to the sadness of history, so this is far from a happy tale. Turner is forced to accept some painful, ugly truths about life. However, he also discovers the joy of having a loyal friend, and the redeption of remaining true to one's principles. Schmidt narrates Turner's coming of age journey so gracefully, with such imaginative, poetic language, that the darkness in life seems, if not less disturbing, at least a little more bearable.