Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster boy

Title:

Author:

Summary:

In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers--and Turner's--want to change into a tourist spot.

Physical Description:

219 p. ; 22 cm.

Genre:

Historical fiction.

Subject Term:

Progress -- Fiction.

Race relations -- Fiction.

Moving, Household -- Fiction.

Clergy -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Maine -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction.

Publisher:

Clarion Books,

Publication Date:

2004

ISBN:

9780618439294

Publication Information:

New York : Clarion Books, c2004.

Award Note:

Newbery Honor Book, 2005.

Michael L.Printz Award book, 2005.

Call Number:

YA SCHMIDT

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607001786725	Young Adult	SCHMIDT	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A 2005 Newbery Honor Book

It only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in town will let him forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one. But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves. Despite his father's-and the town's-disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time with Lizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mysteryand wonder of Maine's rocky coast. The two soon discover that the town elders, along with Turner's father, want to force the people to leave Lizzie's island so that Phippsburg can start a lucrative tourist trade there. Turner gets caught up in a spiral of disasters that alter his life-but also lead him to new levels of acceptance and maturity. This sensitively written historical novel, based on the true story of a community's destruction, highlights a unique friendship during a time of change. Author's note.

Author Notes

Gary D. Schmidt is the best-selling author of many books for young readers, including the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and the Newbery Honor book The Wednesday Wars . He is a professor of English at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Reviews (2)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 6-9-Gary Schmidt's Newbery Honor and Printz Honor winning book (Clarion Books, 2004) gains a new dimension in this recording. Prejudice and intolerance are a way of life in this fictional tale set into the historical reality of 1912 Maine. Turner Buckminster has very recently arrived and already he can't stand the small coastal town of Phippsburg. Within the first few days, the town's unfavorable impression of him is set; not only is he unable to hit a baseball thrown the Maine way, but he acts in a manner unbecoming to a minister's son, earning himself a summer's worth of playing hymns on the organ for crotchety Mrs. Cobb. Ostracized by most of the town's inhabitants, Turner meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, who lives on nearby Malaga Island, which was settled by former slaves. Turner and Lizzie become fast friends despite resistance from the town as well as from Turner's minister father, who is already feeling the backlash of his son's transgressions from his new congregation. Phippsburg town elders and Turner's father wants the residents of Malaga to leave so that their town can be turned into a tourist hot spot, and they're willing to do just about anything to make that happen. Schmidt's lyrical language describing the seasons and the sea breeze makes the setting come to life, making it another character that weaves its way throughout the entire story. Flashes of humor, temper, and an aching melancholy, along with a variety of Maine accents for the assorted townsfolk color veteran actor Sam Freed's narration of this title that should be in all libraries.-Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this novel set in turn-of-the-20th-century Maine, the son of a white pastor befriends a girl from Malaga Island, a community founded by former slaves. These fully formed characters probe the ills of society and the joys of friendship. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved