Keeping the Good Light (Laurel-Leaf Books) [Paperback]

Katherine Kirkpatrick (Author)

Book Description

Series: Laurel-Leaf Books | Publication Date: February 10, 1997

Seventeen-year-old Eliza Brown was born and raised on a small island with barely enough room for the lighthouse her family must attend to around the clock. Each day she rows a mile to attend school on City Island. But chores and family responsibilities have not allowed Eliza to have a social life there. Then when a family tragedy brings her to live with her older sister's family on City Island, Eliza's life changes forever. Her new life is filled with challenges, friendships, and some painful decisions. Where does a spirited and rebellious young woman like Eliza really belong?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A mile away from City Island in the Devil's Belt of Long Island Sound stands the Stepping Stones lighthouse, where 16-year-old Eliza lives with her parents and two older brothers in 1903. Intelligent and artistic, Eliza is bored by the endless round of chores and chafes under her stern Irish mother's constant haranguing to look and act ladylike. Her days become considerably more grim after her favorite brother drowns, but a move to her married older sister's home on City Island proves a welcome change. Eliza teaches fourth grade and enjoys herself-until she gets fired for conduct that has been "far from demure" (her infractions include a trip to a saloon, where a single beer intoxicates her). Her only choices, it seems, are to marry an affluent but boring man or return to the drudgery and tedium of the lighthouse. But at the last minute she is "rescued" in a surprising fashion by dint of a message she had put in a bottle six years earlier. First novelist Kirkpatrick cuts Eliza and many of the other characters from familiar cloth, but the wealth of well-researched period details and the author's obvious love for her story's setting add up to an engaging read. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-9?Whether she's spearing eels with her brothers or exploring the shoreline with renegade Ralph, Eliza Charity Brown, 16, is not easily contained by the tedium of life at Stepping Stones Lighthouse off the coast of Long Island. In the tumultuous year beginning in September, 1903, she experiences great loss, liberation from her routine, and heart-wrenching romance with a feckless dreamer. She also encounters the strict social expectations of a traditional community, where young women do not go abroad at night or think independently. Liza does both, and consequently is expelled from her beloved school. When she sees a loveless marriage as her only viable option, she is rescued, at the last moment, by a job offer that takes her away from the closed society of City Island. The plot is engaging and enriched with substantial historical detail, bringing time and place vividly to light. While the resolution may strain credibility, it is effectively presented and satisfying. Liza's personality is vibrant and irresistible; secondary characters are varied and multidimensional. Formal diction is appropriate for the narrative and, in contrast, the dialogue is more natural. Overall, this is an outstanding book with a truly contemporary heroine in a historical setting. Readers of L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables" series will find in Liza a kindred spirit.?Carolyn Noah, Central Mass. Regional Library System, Worcester, MA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (February 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440220408
• ISBN-13: 978-0440220404
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,944,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping a Good Light- The true meanings, June 5, 2003

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Keeping the Good Light (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Paperback)

A Short Summary

16-year-old Eliza Brown lives in a lighthouse. She is a fabulous artist and loves to teach. Living in the lighthouse though, she doesn't have many friends. She writes a message in a bottle and throws it into the sea. Eliza hopes someday someone will read it, and she will get a new friend. Later on in her life, her dear brother Peter dies. Eliza then has to go lives with her married sister on the island by her mother's will. Things are different there though. Eliza encounters problems, happiness, sadness, great new friend, a new life, a teaching career, marriage proposals, and a few things that she will remember for all her life. Eliza is lost in her mind, and she doesn't know which path to take. She is not sure what to do anymore. Read this book to find out more.

Why I Recommend It

I really do suggest you read this book. It has fascinated me when I borrowed it from the library. I even ended up buying it later on. I felt as if I could actually see everything in front of me. I could feel the sadness and sorrow Eliza felt sometimes. This book is a truly touching book, and it also tells you that if you send a message to the universe the universe gives you an answer. Someday you shall find true friends and true happiness

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story!, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Keeping the Good Light (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Paperback)

Very good story - terrific read for school-age kids and young adults, especially girls. Fun book - you'll read it more than once.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars So bad I actually threw it away!, June 17, 2006

By 

First Lady (LB, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Keeping the Good Light (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Paperback)

The last review sounds like the author wrote it - not a child. Or perhaps the child borrowed from the "Author's Note" at the back of the book since it is so similar.

I was so disappointed in this book. The very first review on the inside cover says "Readers of LM Montgomery's Anne...will find in Eliza a kindred spirit." Neither Anne nor LM Montgomery would consider Eliza a kindred spirit. In fact, Anne would keep far from her! I'm glad I reviewed this book before giving it to my neice. The first page is so good (which is what I read in the store) it is shocking how fast it goes downhill.

The first chapter describes her brother Sam "Almost 22, he was a self-centered, reckless whiskey-drinking fool who collected dead animals' bones for a hobby....What was more, his anger was frightening. Something about Sam wasn't right." Then one page later Sam begins talking about drinking and prostitutes ("Who's Big May?" "She's one of the prostitutes from the Bucket of Blood...Sam's favorite place to have a beer or whiskey. pg 8 )

Eliza's father, page 9, "He didn't say much, though he liked to curse..." and then he does. Not a book I want my child to read!

On Page 18 Eliza tries to make a case that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalene.

It's just more of the above. She gets bored in church. She fishes her brother out of saloons. Etc. Why would I want my child to read about this dysfunctional family as though it was normal? Where is anything remotely similar to any of LM Montgomery's books? There is a lighthouse...that's about it!