Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (Reading Log)

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.

The Labors of Hercules Beal

By: Gary D. Schmidt

Libby audiobook 8 hours

Read by: Fred Berman

Published: 2023

Genre: YA realistic fiction, humor

 

There are things about Schmidt's writing that irritate me . . . like the excessive repetition of words and phrases. At least in this book, there's a bit of a purpose to it, but it's still irritating.

 

Hercules is a twelve-year-old seventh grader living with his older brother Achilles at the Beal Brothers Nursery. Their parents died in a car crash the previous year and life is very different for both of them. 

"Herc Beal knows who he's named after - a mythical hero - but he's no superhero. He's the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercule's amazing feats in real life, he's skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod - and not a single Hydra in sight."

By the time we get to chapter 13 - "The Golden Apples of the Hesperides" - I was crying. This book has heart. And grief. And growth.

• Viola (Achilles' girlfriend, then fiancee) is not a vampire
• Mindy (Hercules' dog) and Pirate Cat (from one of his labors) accompany Herc to the dunes in the morning to watch the sun rise and say good morning to his parents
• Ellie has to move away to Ohio and she and Hercules really miss one another
• Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer (Danny from The Wednesday Wars) is married to Mai Tee! (Not sure how to spell her name, but it took me until the end of the book to make the connection. I loved his character SO MUCH! 
• I love how each of the labors corresponded to the myth. I love how Hercules grew as a character and his 150-word "reflections" went from basic to more expressive. 
• I love how he tried to rescue "Ira" the statue from auction with only $76 for his dear neighbor who missed her husband.
• I love how he and the cranky bus driver became friends of a sort.

 

I kind of want to re-read Lizzy Bright to see if the irritating repetition of words and phrases is present in that book, too. The last two of his I've read have had it. Other than that, this is another wonderful book by Schmidt. 

The vocal work by the reader was fantastic! He captured the different characters very effectively.

Just Like That

By: Gary D. Schmidt

Libby audiobook 12 hours

Read by: Leah Horowitz

Published: 2021

Genre: YA historical fiction

Set in the 1960s and referencing characters from The Wednesday Wars, this book had less levity and much more darkness. The war in Vietnam brought some of the heaviness, but I was surprised by the amount of violence and danger that Matt Coffin's back story brought along. (In fact, I was surprised that Leonidas Shug got away with so much evil. And I was shocked that Matt tried saving his life at the end of the book.)

 

Meryl Lee's sadness ("The Blank") at Holling's death and later, the dissolution of her parents' marriage permeates the book. The girls at St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls are not very kind or welcoming initially.  Dr. MacKnackater (?) Nora - is a wonderful headmistress.

Okay for Now is about Doug Swieteck, also a Wednesday Wars character . . . should I read it? I love Lizzy Bright and the Buckminster Boy and Wednesday Wars best of all his books. Orbiting Jupiter is also quite good. This one just didn't connect for me. 

Vietnam war, class issues, protesting, public speaking, politics, speaking your mind, being friendly, becoming accomplished, etc.

Orbiting Jupiter

by Gary D. Schmidt
Hennepin County Library audiobook 3 CDs
read by Christopher Gebauer
genre: YA realistic fiction

Once again, Schmidt's amazing storytelling skill is on powerful display. This is the first of his books that hasn't been historical fiction! (Of those I've read. Though the mention of Coach Swieteck made me think of Okay For Now . . . ) Louie and I listened to this one together when we had a lot of driving to do.

Jack and his parents have taken in a 14-year-old foster child named Joseph. He got a 13-year-old pregnant when he was also 13 and he kept trying to see her, even after her parents got an injunction against him. This info comes later in the story, though.

The characters range from compassionate to cruel. Joseph's voice is at times silent and at other times, overpowering. The relationship between sixth grader Jack and eighth grader Joseph develops slowly and in classic guy terms. Jupiter is the baby girl that Joseph wants to see and take care of. He wants to be the loving father he himself does not have.

I cried. I'm listening to it over again. I think I'll get some other Schmidt stories on audio for our next road trip. I'd love to share the ones I've loved with Louie.

Okay for Now

by Gary D. Schmidt
Scott County Library audiobook 8 CDs
read by Lincoln Hoppe
genre: YA historical fiction

Gary D. Schmidt is one of my favorite YA authors! He is amazing - Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, The Wednesday Wars, . . . He is simply phenomenal. I am frustrated, though, at how hard it can be to "sell" his books to today's readers. The era for this one (Vietnam War) is so foreign to today's tweens and teens. So many of the cultural references won't make any sense. The angst, family dynamics, and struggles of main character Doug will still resonate, though.

Doug Swieteck's dad is an angry man. When he moves his family to Marysville, New York, Doug is miserable. His brother Christopher has "a twisted criminal mind" and his oldest brother Lucas is in Vietnam. I don't want to give away spoilers, so I'll just say that it's an amazing story and well worth reading! Lincoln Hoppe's vocal work is exceptional; this is a great listen-to.

Things I want to capture: Mr. "Big Bucks" Ballard, horseshoes, orchids, Lil, Spicer's Deli, deliveries, Mrs. Windermere, Audobon's birds, "skinny delivery boy," Joe Pepitone, the jacket, Jane Eyre, art, reading, school, Coach Swieteck, "so-called" gym teacher, the Dougherty family, . . . The Wikipedia page for this book has images of all the Audobon bird drawings that head the chapters. Fun to look at them!

I would love to find a middle schooler who enjoys historical fiction. I'd recommend all three of Schmidt's books and Ruth Sepetys' as well.

Notes from my car:
Unhappy, angry boy with angry alcoholic dad, two mean older brothers, and sweet, resigned mom.
Why set in this era? Connection to modern kids?
"jerk" "remember" "chump" "I'm not lying" etc. . . . repetition used effectively or too irritating?
Dad is reprehensible!

The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt
264 pgs, CMSW hardcover

I enjoyed this immensely, but can't figure out how to "sell" it to middle schoolers. It got rave reviews and I see why. I loved his Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, too (much more than Kira-Kira, which won the Newbery that year). His writing style is very engaging. I just haven't seen kids get hooked on his books.

Mrs. Baker is the extraordinary English teacher in this Vietnam-war era story of a 7th grade boy, Holling Hoodhood. Holling does not go to Wednesday afternoon religious instruction like all the other kids. When half his class leaves for Catholic catechism and the other half leaves for the temple and Hebrew instruction, Holling is left with Mrs. Baker. She begins with menial labor (like eraser cleaning), and moves into Shakespeare. Along the way, she teaches him to think and to care.

This would be a delightful discussion book - with mature adolescents or with adults. It made me want to pick up some Shakespeare. It's been a long time since I read or saw any of the bard's plays. Gary D. Schmidt is a fantastic author! He has another gem in this book.



I cried at a few different points in this book. When Holling re-conneccts with his sister (Heather). When Mrs. Bigio (the cook whose husband died in VietNam) apologizes to refugee Mai Thi. This is a wonderful book and I hope my students enjoyed it. We'll discuss it this week . . . 

 

<Above blogged 12.9.2007. Below added 8.8.2024.>

 

Libby audiobook 7 hours

Read by: Joel Johnstone

Published 2009 (original print version in 2007)

Genre: YA historical fiction

 

I remembered enjoying this book quite a bit and got it as a work listen-to book. Besides what I wrote above, it has baseball, architecture, a camping trip, cream puffs, cross country running, the Beatles, a VW bug, and so much more! I wish I'd blogged about the discussion I had with students 17 years ago . . .