Book Review: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy - Highly Recommend

How sad I'll be when I have no more unread Gary D. Schmidt books! What an outstanding author! He taps the heart of things and communicates significant truths packed in the garments of story. Published in 2004, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy is an earlier book, but just as powerful as The Wednesday Wars, Okay for Now, Orbiting Jupiter, and Trouble. Indeed, it was a Printz Honor book and a 2005 Newbery Honor book. Thankfully, I have a few more Schmidt books to read if I can lay my hands on them (at least one of them is available in audio form on Hoopla).

I had to read bits of this aloud to my boys because I knew they would sympathize with the protagonist,  Turner Buckminster. After a horrific introduction to his new life as the minister's son in Phippsburg, Maine, all Turner wants to do is run away. He doesn't fit in a town full of bullying peers and cantankerous elderly neighbors. The church elders are eager to clear out a shanty town on a nearby island, to make room for a lucrative tourist resort, and hope to garner Reverend Buckminster's support. Lizzie Bright lives on that island and becomes Turner's only friend. But it is 1912, and others frown on his associations with a young black girl. (Indeed, what a timely tale! If we all worked on building cross-cultural relationships, we might bridge the racial divide.)

The characters are endearing. Turner's struggles are excruciating. The plot pacing perfect! While this is a sad book (death occurs), it also speaks of hope and redemption. What a wonderful piece of historical fiction, spurring universal inspiration to seek love and justice. Schmidt proves, once again, that he weaves wonder in the ordinary struggles of life. Perhaps it appeals to me more as a pastor's kid, but I think it will hold equal appeal to other readers and would be a superb selection for teachers seeking relevant literature to discuss race and justice in classrooms today.