Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Gary D. Schmidt's Newbery Honor-winning novel, 'Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy,' transports readers to Phippsburg, Maine, in 1912. It tells the story of Turner Buckminster, a minister's son struggling to adjust to his new home, who forms a deep friendship with Lizzie Bright Griffin, a spirited Black girl from Malaga Island. This island community, founded by former slaves, is coveted by local authorities who plan to displace its residents and institutionalize them. The book sensitively explores themes of racial prejudice, historical injustice, friendship, and the courage to stand up against systemic wrongs, offering a poignant look at a real historical event. It is ideal for late elementary and middle school readers ready for a thought-provoking historical narrative.

In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers--and Turner's--want to change into a tourist spot.