Twelve-year-old Lucretia Sanderson prizes the fact that her parents named her after Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), a Quaker feminist and abolitionist whose contributions to racial and gender justice were mostly ignored by historians.
Young Lucretia’s father, a history professor with an ardent desire to bring to the public’s attention people who had been disregarded by history, helps her understand that in a world where conflicts and pressures abound, there is more than one way to win a fight, as Lucretia Mott’s life demonstrated.
When Lucretia’s father is killed in a horrific car crash, she and her mother, Eliza, a renowned artist who has consistently refused to be interviewed about her work, move from their home in Vermont to settle on Candle Island, off the coast of Maine, to escape prying journalists.
But the solitude and respite they anticipate and need in order to protect a secret they’ve been keeping for years is upended as they are unwillingly yet irrevocably drawn into the longstanding conflict between the islanders and the people who live on Candle Island during the summer.
As Lucretia navigates her new community, she develops unique friendships with a prickly girl named Murdock and a sensitive boy called Bastian, who have secrets of their own. She also confronts enemies who threaten not only her and her mother’s well-being, but also that of the orphaned osprey chick she is nursing back to health, her horse Mahogany, and the entire community.
When events beyond their control catapult Lucretia and Eliza, and their secret, into the public eye, they must come to terms with their new reality. Lucretia is encouraged by her new friends, who, like herself, understand the need for a protective shell and harbor the hope of eventually coming out of the limiting space a shell provides.
Lauren Wolk, well-known author of Wolf Hollow, Beyond the Bright Sea, and Echo Mountain, offers young readers another thought-provoking, heartwarming coming-of-age novel that grapples with discovering and realizing one’s gifts and potential. Though the book is recommended for children ages 10 to 13, it is better suited to ages 12 and older.
(Dutton Books for Young Readers)