By: Gary D. Schmidt
Book on CD / Carver Cty lib / 6:49 hours
Read by: Freed, Sam - reader - wow! He really brings the story & characters to life
Published: 2004
Genre: YA Historical fiction
I had this on my reading record from December 2006.
Summary: Turner Buckminster didn't want to come to Phippsburg, Maine. Right away, he is set apart and ridiculed. Constantly being told to act like a proper minister's boy, Turner is miserable until he makes friends with Lizzie Bright Griffin, the granddaughter of a black minister on Malaga Island. The townspeople want to get rid of the poor residents of Malaga Island so they can develop a profitable tourist trade to replace their dying boat-making trade.
My reaction: Sad, sad story. It made me even more sad to find out that it's based on a true story. I had such a strong visceral reaction to this book. I listened to it on CD in my car. It was SO powerful! I want to own a copy of this story. The character development was sublime. This book should have won the Newbery instead of Kira-Kira!!!
That was eighteen years ago! I recently re-read it on my phone using the Libby app. <Below added 11.02.2024.>
This is definitely the best of Gary D. Schmidt's books, followed by The Wednesday Wars. This is beautifully written. It's also painful! From the early scene where Turner goes to play baseball and learns that they pitch softball style to the burning of Malaga Island, there are so many cringe scenes. I loved Mrs. Cobb (not at first, but as her character warmed to Turner and then to Lizzie). The way Mr. Stonecrop communicated and conducted his life was so awful. Turner is a delightful protagonist. Lizzie is amazing.
The Author's Note and the Afterword are fascinating and moving. This is a magnificent book.
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