What an amazing book! Not only was the history well-researched, but I loved the representation and the characters. I am a bit old but I could resonate with Selena's toughness. Also, as a Canadian living near one of the Great Lakes, I always appreciate books set in a place that feels like home. So... yeah... the imagery was really well done!!!

<3

For this level of reading, I think this book was overall an enjoyable read. Lucy is a sweet girl who lost not only her father, but also the woman who was taking care of her. She gets sent to live with the Martin's, a family who lives at a lighthouse on Lake Superior.

I personally love the emotions and personalities we get from Lucy as she tries to cope with all of the negative emotions she is feeling. Between pretending to be a princess to embracing her small waif girl, I felt like I understood her energy. I hated how much the children of the Martin family treated her and didn't even give her a chance.

The beginning of the story really focused on the necklace and the search for it. I was hoping for a bit more of a hunt for it, but I feel like it really got found rather quickly. I thought it may take a couple trips to the shore to find it but that was incorrect. It makes sense for the type of book this is and the reading level/length though. In the end, I love that Lucy learned the importance of family, even if they aren't related to you. You can find family if you put those you love above yourself. Because of how she treated the necklace and what she did in the end, I think it was okay that the story didn't focus much on the hunt for the treasure.

I still don't completely understand Jules besides being a character who knows the history of the area, but really he wasn't needed in the book and everything would've been the same without him. Besides helping Mr. Martin with the rescue, his role wasn't much after they bought the fixer upper boat.

"It takes courage to be a keeper...It takes not only intelligence but bravery, and the soul of a lifesaver. You have to value other people above yourself if you want to live at a lighthouse."

I love that in the end this is the lesson Lucy learns because it is extremely important for kids to learn this early on.

Lovely and wholesome coming-of-stage story. Quite honestly felt like a Studio Ghibli movie playing in my head. I loved the characters and their developments, and I loved how realistic and unapologetic Lucy was as she struggled to connect with her heritage and to belong with her new family. Their cultural heritage was also an important part of the story—such an important read, especially for middle-graders.

thankyou netgalley for the arc. all opinions are my own!

okay first of all: 5+ stars.
secondly: ANNA ROSE JOHNSON SMASHED IT!!

This was such an amazing historical fiction. HF fans should totally dive in and start pre-ording this absolutely delightful read❤️

This book was a really lovely book about a girl who struggles to fit in with her new family, she often feels like she doesn't belong. The only thing that I didn't like about this book was that there were errors, such as 2 or 3 words being joined together, these errors made some parts of the book a bit hard to read. Other than the errors I think that this book was really good.

Well, I just loved this one. Heartwarming, wholesome, gripping, family-focused, historically accurate in time and sensibility, with a great resolution. Lucy Landry is a flawed heroine in the best way—she’s endearing, even when she’s making mistakes, and it’s impossible not to root for her as she tries to fit in with her new family. Johnson also has a remarkable ability to write evocative and believable settings. I’ve never been to Michigan, but after reading both her books (The Star That Always Stays, her debut, was also fantastic), I feel like I have travelled there. She's similarly gifted in portraying character. Besides Lucy (a truly luminous character!), I was impressed by how she made so many characters come alive, including Lucy's own deceased father, who never actually appears in any scenes yet feels fully realized. I also love the subtle but strong message of Christian faith (it's never heavy-handed), which adds to the feeling of authenticity in time and place.

This book deserves all the awards. I also hope Anna Rose Johnson starts a trend for more books like this to be published—gently old-fashioned, wholesome, with sparkling prose, great pacing, and vivid characters. It reads like a classic family (or classroom) read aloud, something that a broad range of ages, from 5 to grown-up, can appreciate. And it’s just so GOOD. Johnson is such a wonderfully talented author. Bravo!

It's 1912, and burdened by multiple deaths, ten year old Lucy is being handed off to a new family. Lucy's father died searching for a necklace from a shipwreck, and now young Lucy is determined to finish what he started even if she has to combat her fear of the ocean to do so. She moves in with the Martins; husband, wife, and six kids - who live in a lighthouse.

Often slipping into characters of her own making, Lucy is able to gain courage to deal with things that she may otherwise struggle with. And struggle she does, since living with the Martin's is no easy feat. The other kids don't warm up to her, she keeps messing up their careful way of life, and there's the fact she's living in a lighthouse near where her father died.

I enjoyed this book, it was well written and the characters felt real. The book connects the reader to the characters and plot through the brighter-than-life main character, and use of local and familial history. There was beautiful ties to Lucy and the Martin's indigenous heritage, that allowed the characters to connect to each other outside their familial bond.