Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Book review by Matt Berman, Common Sense Media
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 9+

A preacher's son stands up to a racist town.

Gary D. Schmidt Historical Fiction 2005
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Parents say

age 11+

Based on 4 reviews

Kids say

age 11+

Based on 9 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this book.

Stands out for .

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this tragic novel is based on actual events and offers much for discussion, which might spur readers on to further research. In addition to its depiction of racism in early 20th-century New England, there are relationships of many kinds to explore, moral growth and change in several characters, majority vs. minority rights, and unintended consequences of one's actions. Its lyrical and metaphorical writing are terrific examples for writing classes.

Community Reviews

kathryn1
kathryn1 Adult
January 8, 2015
age 12+

Excellent writing, great story

I would recommend that kids below age 12 read this with an adult for clarification of the language and wording and in order to understand the background of some of the events. It is a wonderful, heart-wrenching story, but I think that based on my time in the 5th and 6th grade classroom, many 9 year-olds would struggle with it.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
limehottie
limehottie Adult
May 11, 2011
age 11+

Perfect for sixth grade and beyond

I absolutely loved this book! The message was so good and the characters were amazing. I would very highly reccomend this book to anyone looking for a good read!

This title has:

Too much violence
Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Turner, newly arrived in a small coastal town in Maine where his father is to be the new minister, is immediately an outcast, despised by the children, watched incessantly by the suspicious adults, and ground down by his rigid father. His life is wretched and lonely until he meets Lizzie Bright, granddaughter of the minister on the nearby island of Malaga, an impoverished community of slave descendants. Lizzie is tough, smart, and wise, and with her and her community Turner feels at home in a way he never will in his own home.

But the town wants to attract tourists, and the first step is the elimination of the Malaga community. Turner's father, beset and manipulated by the Deacons of his church, supports their efforts, leaving only Turner to stand up for what is right. But doing the right thing is far more complicated than it seems and, as Lizzie often tells him, he "never can look at things straight."

Is It Any Good?

This complex and powerful novel deserves its Newbery Honor. Its richness of language and metaphorical meaning, as well as its three-dimensional and evolving characters, are well summed up in a line from the end of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, which the author quotes near the end of the book: "From so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

The beautiful and wonderful forms that evolve here are the characters and their relationships and viewpoints, all complex, and all undergoing change. There's Turner, of course, struggling to live up to his father's teachings even when his father doesn't; Mrs. Cobb, a crusty old racist who learns to love a black girl and an ill-mannered boy; Willis, who seems to be a bully but has an ironclad sense of what's right; his father, Deacon Hurd, whose pride goeth before a fall; and many others, a Dickensian wealth of real characters. And evolution is not just individual -- the relationships and understandings between the characters change, and change again. This lovely, heartbreaking, and very real story doesn't always go where you think it will, but in the end it goes to a movingly spiritual place.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the challenges of standing up for something you believe in when popular opinion is against you.

  • Would you have behaved any differently than Turner did if you had been
    in the same situation?

  • What prompted Turner's father to change his mind
    about his son's actions?

  • This tale was based on a true story, but which
    elements were factual -- and which were fictionalized for dramatic
    effect?

Book Details

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