Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

After reading and loving multiple stories by Schmidt, I decided that when I had the chance, I’d collect whatever of his books I could find when thrift shopping. Lizzie Bright is a book I picked up at one stage, but unfortunately, my first copy had a lot of distracting annotations in it, so I wasn’t able to get into the story. Eventually, I found another annotation-free copy, and got to enjoy it.

In my opinion, this isn’t one of Schmidt’s best books, but there was much to love in these pages anyway!

Schmidt does an excellent job of striking a balance between humor and gravity. This story as a whole is generally sad and/or hard, but I found myself laughing even when the situation was difficult because of the masterful way Schmidt show more told the story.

For example, I was tickled in the first few pages when Turner first thinks about “lighting out for the Territories”. That’s a phrase that appears multiple times through the book, and always at just the right time—it’s a ludicrous thought, but something that helped Turner get through a difficult situation, and it was perfect for the story. Or there’s the old lady who is determined to have the grandest-ever last words; it’s a theme throughout the book, and the resolution to that one was surprising and hilarious!

Other parts of this book aren’t so easy. Lizzie’s story is heartbreaking, and I loved watching her befriend Turner even though she and her family were going through a rough time. The racism she and her community experienced was terrible, and Schmidt does a great job at showing us the effects of racism not just on those who receive the injustice, but also on those who embrace wrong attitudes.

If you’re looking for a gripping, heart-touching historical read that will make you think, I’d recommend you read this book. It’s an unusual story, and not the easiest to read, but well worth taking the time for. Also, be sure to read the author’s note at the end—I found it fascinating to see how he used historical facts as the framework for this story. show less

Here is a story that will break the ice in your soul, to paraphrase Franz Kafka. This terrific YA book was a 2005 Newberry Honor book, winner of the Michael L. Prinz Award, and received numerous other honors as well, which I’ll list below. Additionally, it has a lot in common with the book Alligator Bayou, also based on a horrific true story. To me, this book was much more affecting.

As I was reading, I was tempted to think the story, set in 1912 in Phippsburg, Maine, was good but exaggerated, and that the events described were a bit too ridiculous to really be believable. You can’t imagine how sick I felt to discover through some investigation, that the facts are actually even worse than those portrayed in this fictional treatment show more of a racist nightmare!

Some of the characters are fictional, such as the young boy who narrates the tale: Turner Buckminister, the 13-year-old son of the new preacher brought to town by Phippsburg's First Congregational Church. A young black girl based on a real person whose name was never recorded, is given the identity of Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl as bright as her name who becomes fast friends with Turner. Lizzie lives on Malaga Island, a small poor community off the coast of Phippsburg founded by former slaves.

The white residents of Phippsburg consider Malaga an immoral cesspool and more importantly, a barrier to developing the island for an anticipated booming tourist trade. The Reverand Buckminister, Turner’s father, is pressured into helping rid the area of this “scourge.” The town leader, Mr. Stonecrop, says - untruthfully - to the Reverand:

"You’ve seen the squalor on Malaga. There’s isn’t a soul on that island who isn’t a drunk or a thief. … All they know is living off others.”

Lizzie's family and friends are told they must leave Malaga Island. Turner tries to intervene and save them, but he has no idea about the dark forces with which he is dealing. The disaster that ensues will break your heart.

Evaluation: I think this is essential reading, for adults as well as teens. It is a wonderful story of coming of age, but more importantly, it brings to light an incredible and shameful part of the history of this country that should be illuminated, not only as a memorial to those who passed through this hell, but also as the sad reply to those who say "this could never have happened here." show less

Once again Schmidt did it! He wrote an outstandingly beautiful book dealing with very complex, gritty issues.

This book was written before The Wednesday Wars and received the 1995 Newbery Honor award. It is particularly poignant, outstandingly breathtaking and incredibly tragic.

Based upon true occurrences of race-related issues in Phippsbubrg, Maine, the setting is the early 1900's wherein an interracial community of African Americans, who were rich in values and culture, but poor in financial means, eeked out a living on Malaga Island and, deemed as a blight on the land, were forcibly, cruelly evicted.

Enter Turner Buckminster III, son of the newly appointed pastor of the Congregationalist church, mix in a cast of characters who are show more ignorant and blatantly inadequate in human kindness, add delightful, spunky, enchanting, courageous African American Lizzie Bright Griffin, then stir the mix by adding a heaping tablespoon of contradictions of the Right Reverend Buckminster II, and the end result is a work of art beyond excellence.

Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, another award winning book portraying the scathing underbelly of racism, Schmidt unflinchingly deals with the hypocrisy of church going folk who sit in the Sunday pews singing the hymns while perpetrating evil on innocent people.

In a cruel, uncaring environment, Turner finds solace and is grounded by a special, forbidden friendship with Lizzie Bright.

As all around him throw stones which land like savage blows filled with hated words and actions in a quagmire of mucky mess, Turner takes the higher ground and walks the path where the waves lap the shores, where the lights are gentle and the cabins are filled with loving, kind African Americans who simply want to live in peace. show less

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 mystery and 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 show more 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. show less

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 mystery and 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 show more 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. show less

"Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" was a thrilling novel to read, filled with enough reality to reach out and touch a person's heart. It was a book that made me feel that I was living in the same time period as Turner Buckminster, that I felt all of the trials and tribulations he went through as he felt them himself in the novel. The language of the story was so descriptive and methodical, for example, the way everything from Malaga Island in its entirety to the short choppiness of a wave was described really allowed me as the reader to dive right in and fully envision the setting. By the end of the story, I had a vivid mental picture of what the inside of Mrs. Cobb's house, the cliffs at the New Meadows, Malaga Island, and the show more faces of Lizzie, Turner, Minister Buckminster, and Mrs. Cobb looked like - as long as a novel can accomplish this, it is great in my eyes. The characters were also believable, relatable, and well-developed. Turner and his various encounters with the society of Phippsburg was a relatable concept almost every child can relate to - doing something with good intentions, but not receiving praise because other people don't know your perspective. The plot was organized and purposeful, having a soft beginning and then building up in the last segment in the book to the expected deaths of Mrs. Cobb and Reverend Griffin, to the completely unexpected deaths of Reverend Buckminster and Lizzie ending the story. There were many big ideas of this novel, including the essence of needing to cherish the things in life that matter most, which Turner shows happen not to be what Phippsburg's idea of a minister's boy should be. Sometimes life is about touching a whale, or sneaking to a forbidden area of town to learn about clams or saving people that are being harshly and unnecessarily moved out of their homes. It also sends a message about what life was like for the average African-American in the segregation era. In conclusion, I would not only recommend this novel to young readers, (4th-5th grades) but I would require it as a teacher. show less

Deep breath. Wow. If I could give this one 10 stars, I would. This is one that transports you, speaks to you in a language beyond words. You will cry. You will feel indignant. And you will be carried along by the beautiful weaving of all the threads in this story. Everyone should read this...as a child and again as an adult. An added connection was the fact that it's set right here in Maine, and on the coast...I grew up on the coast of Maine and I understood. Handing this one to Isabelle right now to read, and will remember to thank our neighbor who suggested it to us!