60 pages 2 hours read

Gary D. Schmidt

Lizzie Bright And The Buckminster Boy

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2004

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Introduction

Teacher Introduction

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy 

  • Genre: Fiction; middle grade historical fiction 
  • Originally Published: 2004 
  • Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1000L; grades 6-9 
  • Structure/Length: 12 chapters and afterword; approximately 224 pages; approximately 6 hours, 48 minutes on audio
  • Protagonist/Central Conflict: The story is set in 1912 in the coastal town of Phippsburg, Maine. Turner Buckminster, the son of a minister, befriends Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from the nearby island of Malaga, which is inhabited by a mostly African American community. The central conflict explores racism, community, and change as Turner fights against the town’s plans to evict the people of Malaga Island and erase their community. 
  • Potential Sensitivity Issues: Prejudice, racism, and racial tension; themes of displacement and community destruction; violence, including violent assault; death, including death of a parent and a main character; mild profanity

Gary D. Schmidt, Author 

  • Bio: Born in 1957; American children’s writer of nonfiction books and young adult novels; known for engaging historical and realistic fiction that often tackles complex social issues and offers emotional resonance, moral inquiry, and detailed settings
  • Other Works: The Wednesday Wars (2007); Okay for Now (2011); Orbiting Jupiter (2015)
  • Awards: Newbery Honor Book (2005); Printz Honor Book (2005); YALSA Best Book for young Adults (2005)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide: