Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

I've been reading for a class I'm taking in July. The latest assignment was Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary Schmidt.

It's beautifully written. The language makes it hard to turn the pages, for I so enjoyed the way the sea breeze was personified, the way metaphors and similes turned a simple sentence into a sweet dessert. Each story is well-crafted, and Schmidt must have turned the words over in his mind before allowing them to spill out onto the paper, where they would be carefully arranged to suit the task.

As for the story, it's heartbreaking. It's the story of a minister's boy, Turner, who is moved to Maine with his parents only to discover everything is different there, including himself. In his efforts to find peace, he stumbles across a girl from a local island, an African American girl who is fascinating to him, only unwelcome to everyone else because of the color of his skin.

Turner is caught in the middle of a battle far bigger than himself as the town residents want to relocate the Africa-American residents and claim their land for a resort hotel. Turner believes this is wrong, but has little influence over the town, or even his own father. This is a story of relationships, of sorrow, of hope and of community. It is a short read, but do not make the mistake I did of assuming it would be easy. It speaks to the soul, calls us to question who we are, the company we keep, and where we will stand when the time comes for us to stand up for what is right rather than what is popular. This novel may break your heart, but it will also urge you to make sure you have all the pieces before you put it back together.