Bright Island

A Newbery Honor celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Born and raised on Bright Island off the Maine coast, Thankful Curtis is more like her sea captain grandfather than any of her older brothers are. Nothing suits her better than sailing and helping her father with the farm. But when her dreaded sisters-in-law suggest that Thankful get some proper schooling on the mainland, the wind is knocked from her sails.

Thankful finds the uncharted waters of school difficult to navigate: there's a rocky reception from her rich roommate, Selina; the breezy behavior of the charming Robert; and stormy Mr. Fletcher, the handsome Latin teacher whose caustic tongue masks a tender heart. And while Thankful works hard to make the best of her new life, Bright Island continues to flash in her thoughts, like the sparkle of the sun on the water.

Mabel Robinson's delightful coming-of-age story won a Newbery Honor in 1938 and garnered extraordinary praise from critics and readers alike. The New York Times raved, "One would be hard put to it to find a better contemporary novel than this," and now this evocative tale can be welcomed by a new generation of readers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In 1951, MABEL ROBINSON wrote: "I went to normal school, taught a while, went to Radcliffe College, and finally took my master's and doctor's degrees at Columbia University, where I now teach creative writing. . . . The four summer months are for Maine, where I have leisure to write, to sail, and to do as I please. It sounds very pleasant. And it is!" Mabel L. Robinson won two Newbery Honors: for Bright Island in 1938, and for Runner of the Mountain Tops in 1940. She died in 1962.