Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

The chapter book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary D. Schmidt. Is about a boy named Tucker who is forced to have to move from Boston to Maine because his dad just a got a job as a minster. Tucker is constantly being teased because of his dad's occupation and he just feels like he has absolutely no friends. He is extremely unhappy. One day he is at the beach when he meets a girl named Lizzie. She is African American; in fact the first African American Tucker has ever met. Lizzie is from the Island of Malaga which is a poor community founded by slaves. Even though things are tough for Lizzie she always seems to see the bright side to things and shows Tucker the beauty that Maine truly has to offer. Tucker and Lizzie become close friends. When the story progresses, the town that Tucker moved too in Maine decides that they want to destroy the island of Malaga to create more room for tourists since their shipbuilding industry is not doing so well. Also this town in Maine is extremely racist and decides to remove Lizzie along with other Malaga people. The Malaga people are sent away to live some where else. This entire act of racism, hate, and greed angers Tucker. He stands up for what he believes is right, but it was too late because Lizzie died. As the story comes to and end Tucker and his father both stand up for the Malaga people against their town in Maine and Tuckers father is killed.
Readers Response:
I really enjoyed this book. It's very realistic and actually based on a true even in 1912. This was an extremely sad story. However, the issues of greed and racism through out this book can be related to what has gone on in America's history along with current issues of racism. This book has the ability to connect too many students and stir several emotions of anger, sadness, and hope within the readers. I would recommend this book to 10-15 year olds.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

OK/GOOD BOOK

This is an ok/good book. It gets better at the end...I'm not done yet but now the book gets more exciting. I'm on chapter 10 right now..At the beginning, I took a little, hmm.. shall we say, hiatus and stopped reading it. But then I picked up again and it became good. So my point is, even when it may seem boring at times, keep on reading, it will get better.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

If you think this book is a crappy book then touch here

You are all dumb asses that do not care about what happen to those people this is not an action book it is real life so you all need to get a life and stop being HATERS you dumb asses

TOTAL BULLSH*T!

-1 billion stars! Worst book ever! Pathetic!

Moving, but sad

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy is a children’s historical novel about a minister’s son who must confront narrow-mindedness in the townspeople and even his own father when his family moves to a small town in Maine. This book gives a “realistic” look at how blinded people can be by their own prejudices. I listened to it as an audiobook, and found myself in the awkward position of tearing up in public while I was listening to it on a walk. Luckily I pretended it was the sharp winter air that was giving me the sniffles. This book’s reading level is appropriate for perhaps 5th graders, but the content is a bit mature. I hated depressing books when I was that age!

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Turner Buckminster has lived in Phippsburg, Maine for almost six whole hours. He has dipped his hands in its waves, smelled the sharp scent of its pine trees. He has looked out at the sea. Turner has even seen the clapboard parsonage beside the church his father will minister now that they are no longer in Boston and the small house beyond whose function he could not yet fathom (and soon enough would not believe).

Six whole hours in Maine.

He didn't know how much longer he could stand it.

After a dismal arrival, a disastrous baseball game and one too many reminders that he is, in fact, a minister's son, Turner is just about ready to light out for the territories. Surely, life out west would be better. It would certainly be simpler with no need to remember his manners and always wear those darned starched white shirts that simply do not work in the summer heat.

At least Turner has the sea breeze to keep him company. Being a sneaky, playful breeze it soon leads Turner to Malaga Island and his first friend in Maine.

Lizzie Bright Griffin is Turner's opposite in almost every way. She has lived on Malaga all her life, just like her parents and her granddaddy. A community founded by former slaves, Malaga is a poor island and largely seen as a blemish on the landscape by Phippsburg's elite. But to Lizzie it is the most wonderful place in the world. It is home.

Turner and Lizzie have every reason to hate each other. Instead they become fast friends. Soon enough Turner can't imagine his life without knowing Lizzie or Malaga. Meanwhile, change is coming. Phippsburg is plotting to force the islander's off Malaga to pave the way for a lucrative tourist industry that will lead Phippsburg into the future.

The change seems inevitable. Still Turner feels he and Lizzie have to try and fight this horrible injustice. Only time will tell if it will be enough to save Malaga in Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2004) by Gary D. Schmidt.

This story is based on the real life destruction of Malaga island in 1912 and (spoiler alert, insofar as a real event can be considered a spoiler) the island is not saved. Schmidt has created a stunning novel about a real story that is shocking but also needs to be told and remembered.

The writing here is charming and surprisingly appealing given the narrow focus of the narrative. Biblical references Turner acquired from his minister's-son-upbringing are interwoven seamlessly in a way that works even if the source behind the references is not always clear to readers with a different knowledge set.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy is also the only book I know of that is both a Newbery and Printz award honor book (both honors received in 2005). This never happens. It's kind of as amazing as Sandra Bullock's recent awards sweep winning the Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy and a drama and winning the Oscar for best actress besides. It's just really rare and a real sign of overall awesomeness for a book written for young people.

Despite a very clearly defined plot (as is the way when a story is based on real events), this book is not easy to make sense of just based on a blurb or the cover. That's because Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy is a very subtle, smart book. It really needs to be read before you can fully appreciate its magic. Phippsburg and its inhabitants are fully realized as characters. Even the sea breeze has its own special place as a character of sorts movin

Huh

Does it have romance

Tragic ending!!!!

I wrote the previous review, but my view of the book has changed completely. The ending was terrible!!! I was practically sobbing by the end!!! If you don't like depressing books, do not read this one!!!!

Better for adults or lovers of classics

I am not a fan of classics, but we are reading this book in my seventh grade class. I personally think that it is a little too wordy and best suited for an older audience. I am not saying that many of you might be perfectly capable even at a youmg age of reading this, it just might not be as as fun to read as other novels.

??????

Is it worth reading??????

If you are looking for a well written and obsorbing book, Lizzie Bright is a great book to read. With a wonderful plot and great detail, Gary Schmidt conveys the horror of racial discrimination in this compelling novel.

What do you see when you look into the eye of a whale? Turner Buckminster finds out. Moving from Boston to Maine was hard for Turner, especilly because the town of Phippsburg expects Turner to be their model ministers son. He needs a place to get away from the people, who are always finding faults. Thats when he meets Lizzie Bright, a black girl who lives on the poor Malaga Island.
When Turner tries to help Lizzie and her people, who are being driven off Malaga Island, he finds there is a terrible price to pay for all who go against the tide of Phippsburg.

Going against the tide

Turner becomes friends with the forbidden Lizzie, and he pays a dear price. He stands up for himself and what he believes is right. In the end, it is the adults in the story who learn powerful lessons from the children around them. A great discussion book for classrooms and a delight for any adult to read. Well written and sprinkled with humor.

Reviewed by Mechele R. Dillard for TeensReadToo.com

Thirteen-year-old Turner Buckminster III is not happy. He has moved with his parents from Boston to Phippsburg, Maine, and everything that can be wrong is: The local kids play slow-pitch baseball, his stiff white shirts label him "the minister's kid," and his mother isn't kidding when she hands him the Sears, Roebuck catalog and points to the little building out behind the parsonage. And when Turner begins to question the choices that residents of the town--and his father--are making regarding the future of the inhabitants of nearby Malaga Island, Turner begins to fear that what he heard before leaving Boston may have been the truth: "Folks in Maine spoke a whole different language and didn't care for those who couldn't speak it themselves" (p. 2).

Schmidt sets this story in 1912, basing it on events which occurred in the Phippsburg/Malaga Island area on the coast of Maine. It starts a little slow, but readers who hang in through the first three chapters will find that he doesn't shy away from emotionally-charged issues such as racism, greed, and social posturing. However, Schmidt's focus is ultimately on the wisdom gained not only by young Turner, but by a surprising number of characters most readers will write off as "hopeless" early in the novel.

John Newbery Medal Honor Book, 2005

Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2005

The Lupine Award Honor Book, 2004

Good title

Read this in 8th grade with my class I was the only one that 'got it.' The ending is... grand, in a depressing way. Good mood to the whole book. I'd recommend it to an older audience, or older kids that can appreciate a book that isn't all dragons, fae, and sunsets.

Really good!

I really liked this book I have read it two times I am going to meet the author he is going to be talking about this book, the wednessday wars, and trouble I dont's see how you could give this a one star. I don't think he crossed the line at all it was a sad ending but life isn't perfect either and if you can't handle Lizzie's death then you probably shouldn't have been reading this book in the first place!

A reviewer

This was awful!!! Slow! Slow! Slow! I was half-asleep through what I read of it. I got about past halfway and put it down. I think Turner is the kid's name, and he's treated awful, and nobody in here has a good attitude! Lizzie was the only thing that get me going because she and her dad were perhaps the only positive people in the book. Please don't read this, it will give you a headache!

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Thirteen-year-old Turner Buckminster III is not happy. He has moved with his parents from Boston to Phippsburg, Maine, and everything that can be wrong is: The local kids play slow-pitch baseball, his stiff white shirts label him 'the minister's kid,' and his mother isn't kidding when she hands him the Sears, Roebuck catalog and points to the little building out behind the parsonage. And when Turner begins to question the choices that residents of the town--and his father--are making regarding the future of the inhabitants of nearby Malaga Island, Turner begins to fear that what he heard before leaving Boston may have been the truth: 'Folks in Maine spoke a whole different language and didn't care for those who couldn't speak it themselves' (p. 2). Schmidt sets this story in 1912, basing it on events which occurred in the Phippsburg/Malaga Island area on the coast of Maine. It starts a little slow, but readers who hang in through the first three chapters will find that he doesn't shy away from emotionally-charged issues such as racism, greed, and social posturing. However, Schmidt's focus is ultimately on the wisdom gained not only by young Turner, but by a surprising number of characters most readers will write off as 'hopeless' early in the novel. John Newbery Medal Honor Book, 2005 Michael L. Printz Honor Book, 2005 The Lupine Award Honor Book, 2004 **Reviewed by: Mechele R. Dillard

Awesome

I was suprised when the author showed some white children playing with a black girl. Way too progressive for my taste. I found it very unrealistic.

Powerful Message

The powerful message in this Newbery Honor Book was related in many different ways -- with happiness, scarcasm and great sadness. It's a beautiful story of a special friendship between young people who aren't hindered by prejudice. Lizzie and Turner are two characters who will always be remembered.

BAD!!!!!!

Do not read this book was very boring to read. Hardly any action and nothing to get excited about. DO NOT READ!!!!!!!!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.