LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY by Gary D. Schmidt

This is why I keep reading....Because every once in awhile a book comes along that changes me and becomes part of me forever. I'll always  remember who I was when I read it. I'll wish I had written it but I'll know I never could, though I'll draw inspiration and courage from it, for both writing and living.

Quick, ten books that have done this, and the age at which I read them: Anne of Green Gables (11). The Once and Future King (13). A Separate Peace (16). Dr. Zhivago (17). The Chosen (late 20s). The World According to Garp (30ish). The Prince of Tides (40ish). A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (50ish). Cutting for Stone (60ish).

Add to this Honor Roll Gary D. Schmidt's Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, an award-winning 2004 children's book. It's based on a true tale of injustice, the kind that's hidden safely in the dusty history of every state until some writer shines a light on it and reminds us of how much oppression has scarred this "free" country of ours.

At first it's just the story of one boy, Turner Buckminster III, only son of a minister who's just moved his family to a small town about a century ago. Turner wants no part of Phippsburg, Maine. If he can't stay in Boston and play baseball with his friends, he'd prefer to just light out for the Territories, wherever and whatever they are. Instead he must endure the pressure of being the minister's son, the scorn and derision of the local boys who manage to make a fool out of him even at his beloved baseball, and the scolding of the  intolerant neighbors who see it as their duty to manage the lives of Turner and even his parents.

Lonely and resentful, Turner spends his time exploring the shores of the nearby tidal river, where he finds Lizzie Bright Griffin clamming in the mudflats, and a memorable friendship is born. Lizzie takes him to Malaga Island, where a small colony of poor outcasts--mostly black like Lizzie and her grandfather--have made their homes for years. For Turner it's a good place to be. Lizzie's exuberant spirit soothes his angry soul and gives him a reason to be glad he's alive.

Of course there's a but, embodied in the Dickensian Mr. Stonecrop, a self-righteous bully who holds most of the townspeople in his power. He informs Turner's father that he's expected to join the effort to rid Malaga of the undesirables who squat there so the island can be developed for tourism. Before long everyone's involved in the conflict, and more is at stake than the friendship of two children. Tensions escalate. Enemies fortify their corners and come out fighting, and innocent people are caught in the crossfire. Adult-sized tragedies ensue; don't give this book to a young child until you've read it yourself. Then, after you've grappled with the issues Turner must face, find a child you love enough to share difficult truths with and read this story together.

Schmidt is a master at creating both plot and character. Each chapter hooks us further into Turner and Lizzie's feelings, ratcheting up the tension as the story widens in scope. Most of the townspeople fit the stereotype of narrow-minded Christians, but individuals emerge to help Turner and surprise us. Turner's mother says little, but her sympathy for him and her disappointment in the husband she loves enrich the story. All the adults are shackled in ways they can't see. It is the free, oppressed, doomed people of Malaga Island who teach Turner how to live:

"A loud screeching of gulls from behind the pines, louder and louder, and then it was no longer gulls who were screeching but a pack of five, or four, or six, or who knows how many children flapping their arms and running up and down and back and forth, screeching and cackling, and then careening down upon them, cawing and laughing and thrashing up the water until they flopped down like a flock of swarming birds all come to roost....Two of them grabbed Turner's hands. `Fly with us!' cried one."