Susie Wilde (Children's Literature)
The book takes place in 1912 in the town of Phippsburg, Maine. Phippsburg, once a successful shipping town, began an economic plunge and its citizens sought salvation by turning nearby Malaga Island into a tourist destination. To do this, they first had to remove the forty-nine residents of this poor community founded by former slaves. The author breathes life into this historical setting with two extraordinary characters. The first is Turner Buckminster, a thirteen-year-old who has been torn from his Boston home when his father gets a job as minister in Phippsburg. He distrusts the towns greeting and for the first of many times in the book thinks he should “light out for the Territories.” Thirteen-year-old Lizzie is, as her grandfather often reminds her, “one year older than the century and so a good deal wiser…too wise to stay on Malaga Island.” Lizzie loves everything in her world and at their first meeting, Turner, who has “never spoken to a Negro before” is revived by her friendship. He has an increasingly difficult time reconciling what he knows with his father’s harsh punishments and alliances with greedy community members. Finally, Turner defies them all to help Lizzie. Heartbreakingly, his efforts come too late. The author brilliantly mixes lyricism, humor, breath-taking imagery, and unexpected turns of phrase that dive right into your soul. 2004, Clarion, $15.00. Ages 11 up.

Barbara Troisi (Children's Literature)
Malaga Island, located adjacent to the coast of Maine, provided a safe haven for about 50 Civil War ex-slaves until town elders dressed in frock coats and top hats and steeped in racial hatred bid them to leave, destroyed their make-shift homes, rampaged their family graves, and committed remaining residents to the Home for the Feeble-Minded in Pownal. The story revolves around the forbidden friendship and stubborn, yet powerless struggles of two coming-of- age protagonists, Lizzie, an island girl, and Turner, a mainlander. The pair defy even nature to preserve the bond that exists between them. Turner is the son of newly appointed pastor of the First Congregational Church in Phippsburg, He becomes the target of town bullies and parishioners in a community bent on turning a failing shipbuilding industry into island tourism. The two teens meet on the beach and Lizzie's spend their days raking clams, climbing cliffs, and exploring the island ugliness erupts and the two friends are forced apart. In this stunning revelation of a little-known event, the author gives readers a unique perspective on the glorious landscapes and the sinister behavior of the town's people. Readers of this sensitive novel, based on the 1912 destruction of an island and the powerful kinship and courage of Turner and Lizzie, hear a strong message about hope and despair in race relations. Pair it with Witness by Karen Hesse. 2004, Clarion Books, $15.00. Ages 12 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 2004 (Vol. 72, No. 9))
The year is 1912, and Turner Buckminster III has a mighty cross to bear: his family has just moved from Boston to Phippsburg, Maine; no one in Maine seems to throw a baseball so he can hit it; and, worst of all, he is the minister's son. His misery is just about complete until he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, an African-American girl from nearby Malaga Island, who teaches him how to hit a Maine baseball and doesn't hold his parentage against him. But the tide is turning against Malaga Island, a settlement of some 50-plus outcasts, very poor and mostly black: the good elders of Phippsburg want to replace the failing ship-building industry with tourism, and the collective eyesore that is the Malaga community will just have to go. Schmidt takes his time with his tale, spinning gloriously figurative language that brilliantly evokes both place and emotion. Turner himself is a wonderfully rich character, his moral and intellectual growth developing naturally from the boy the reader first meets. There can be no happy ending to this story, but the telling is both beautiful and emotionally honest, both funny and piercingly sad. 2004, Clarion, 224p, $15.00. Category: Fiction. Ages 11 up. Starred Review. © 2004 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Beverly Vaughn Hock (Library Media Connection, April/May 2005)
A lyrically written novel set in 1911 tells the story of racial conflict in a small Maine village. Turner has a difficult time fitting into his new community of Phippsburg, particularly because he is the son of the new pastor of the First Congregational Church. He meets Lizzie, an exuberant girl who lives on a nearby island community founded by former slaves. The town fathers pressure Turner's father to force the Malaga community to move, in order to turn their settlement into a tourist spot. The people are driven from their homes, forced to move away, or sent to a nearby institution. Both Turner's father, who finally stands up to the town, and Lizzie die. Turner and his mother stay on, inheriting the house of a local woman who befriended Turner and Lizzie. Nothing was ever built on the island. It remains bare today. The friendships, which cross several generations, are believable and moving. "He felt guilt move toward him like a thickened fog-he could almost see it . . . but the fog embraced Turner like a vampire, and it whispered, You are not one of us." This shameful incident is recounted with sensitivity and humor. Highly Recommended. 2004, Clarion Books, 224pp., $15 hc. Ages 10 up.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July 2004 (Vol. 57, No. 11))
The town fathers of Phippsburg, Maine, 1912, fully believe they've landed a treasure in their new well-off, politically connected Congregational minister. Who better to help them remove the black squatters on nearby Malaga Island so they can attract tourism in the wake of a dying shipbuilding trade? Prosperity is, after all, their God-given right. Reverend Buckminster's teenage son Turner, though, is promptly shunned by the local boys and befriended by a Malaga girl, Lizzie, upsetting the balance of relationships between island and shore. Turner's odd friendship with an elderly curmudgeon, who leaves Turner her house at her death, ignites a tragedy when he offers the house to Lizzie and her displaced friends, and the town finds a legal, but ultimately lethal, way to drive off their unwanted black neighbors. Schmidt fictionalizes a true event in early twentieth-century Maine history, fleshing out the already tense episode with vividly realized characters, fully credible father-son strains, a subtly drawn friendship, and small acts of subversion that make the apparently drowsy small town seethe with interest. Readers who empathized with John Ritter's preacher kid in Choosing Up Sides (BCCB 6/98) will want to make Turner's acquaintance, too. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2004, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2004, Clarion, 224p, $15.00. Grades 5-9.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2005)
In 1911, Maine officials ejected the African-American, Native-American, and foreign-born residents from Malaga Island. This historical incident ignites a rich novel that pits the powerful townspeople against the powerless islanders. Schmidt anchors this tragedy firmly within its historical setting, metaphorically connecting the natural surroundings with religion and society. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2004, Clarion, 219pp, $15.00. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

Leslie Bowen (The Kutztown University Book Review, Fall 2005)
This Newbery Honor Book is a coming of age story set in a seaside town in Maine, where the new preacher’s kid, Turner Buckminster, befriends oddball old ladies and a preacher’s grandkid, Lizzie Bright. Lizzie’s people, descendants of slaves who live off the sea on nearby Malaga Island, welcome Turner, but the white kids torment him for being the minister’s kid who cannot play baseball their way. Because Turner is white and Lizzie is an African-American, Turner soon learns that their innocent friendship is taboo. Through other friendships and charity, Turner eventually becomes an accepted member of a Christian community, but at a high cost; both his best friend and his own father die from the blind cruelty of others. Based on an actual island’s evacuation in 1912 Maine, this is a heart-wrenching tale of friendship and loss. Although it is fictional, it has historical and sociological significance with a message of inter-racial and inter-generational tolerance and acceptance. Category: . 2004, Houghton Mifflin, $15.00. Ages 13 to 18.

Marge Wood (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 17, No. 2))
The story is set in a time before your grandparents were born. The Buckminster boy, age around twelve or fifteen, is trying to survive life in a small town in Maine where his parents have moved. His father is a preacher, and it seems that everyone in town is out to get Turner, the boy. Nobody likes him, not even the kids his own age. Well, that is wrong. One old lady, described as crazy by the locals, likes him fine. Finally, one day Turner finds a friend--Lizzie, a colored girl who lives out on Malaga Island with her grandfather. (Malaga Island is a real place, but the rest of the story is fiction.) Unfortunately, the rest of the town highly disapproves of coloreds and is trying to get them to go away and leave Malaga Island so the rich and powerful can develop it for tourism. The folks on Malaga don’t take kindly to this since they have lived there for a long, long time. Being colored doesn’t give one any power in small New England towns. Being the preacher’s boy doesn’t help either. Turner and Lizzie start sneaking around to meet, since he realizes that the Bible doesn’t say anything against sneaking, and he really, really needs a friend. When one of the crankiest old ladies in town finds that Lizzie can sing, she overcomes her prejudices and sees that Turner and Lizzie show up regularly so Lizzie can sing and Turner can play the piano. This story is filled with poignancy and certain inevitability. This is a potential award winner. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 4 and up. 2004, Clarion Books, 219p., $15.00. Ages 9 up.

Patricia Morrow (VOYA, August 2004 (Vol. 27, No. 3))
Turner Buckminster's father moved the family from Boston to become the minister in Phippsburg, Maine. Everything Turner does seems to be wrong in the eyes of his father and the town, and his biggest wrongdoing is befriending Lizzie from Malaga Island, a settlement of slave descendants and others who do not fit in. Despite his father's punishments, Turner continues to grow, maintaining his friendship with Lizzie and her people, and developing relationships in the community and with the sea. When church leaders plan to remove the residents of Malaga Island to develop tourism, Turner's father is called to task in their support. But Turner's conviction that this action is wrong leads his father to oppose the plan as well. Turner inherits a house in town and suggests that the families from Malaga should live there. Doing so brings out the evil in people, and events take a number of nasty and unfortunate turns, ending with a quiet, tragic reality. The author bases this story on facts from the early 1900s, telling it with a lyrical style that supports Turner's steady path toward maturity while dealing with racism, religious belief, intellectual development, family ties, and loyalty. There are many subtle dimensions to Turner's progress with grace under pressure as he learns to stand up for what he believes. The strengths and weaknesses of the other characters are strongly reflected in both what they do and what they say. This excellent story reflects the challenges still faced by many contemporary young people. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Clarion, 224p., $15. Ages 11 to 18.