Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

by Gary D. Schmidt Published by yearling 2004 217 Pages Genre: Historical Fiction Summary: Turner Buckminster has just moved into Phippsburg, Maine and hates it. The local boys play baseball all wrong. They make fun of him for not jumping off a cliff with them into the ocean. And the plain are just not excepting. He is finally turned around when he meets Lizzie. She shows him a whole new world of Maine. He decides not to run away, and he and Lizzie do great things. They even see a whale up close and touch it. As Turner has befriended Lizzie the town has been trying to clear the Island on which she lives. Turner is so upset by this that he tries to get his father to help him stop the people. But by the time his father realizes he is on the wrong side it's too late. They are hungry and when Turner's father gets in the way his is pushed off a cliff and killed. All the people on the island are either forced to move or are put in an institution for the ill minded. Lizzie gets put in this institution and dies there. My reaction: This book was just to dang sad. At ever turn it just got worse! I guess that's life for ya, it's just hard to read a book that takes you from your world to somewhere worse. Potential Problems: All kinds! Murder, Hate, abuse, racism, etc. Recommendations: I would have older kids read this book. I wouldn't think elementary school would be the best setting.