Customer Reviews

Keeping the Good Light (Laurel-Leaf Books)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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

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!

I've read this book three times, at ages 9, 10, and now again at 13. It really gets better each time and I just love it! I feel that I got the most out of it at age 13, but there's not really anything that shouldn't be read by a 9 year old and I enjoyed it then, too.

'Keeping the Good Light' is about 16 year-old Eliza Brown who lives at the Stepping Stones Light House with her family. Their job is to keep the lighthouse lantern burning at all times, so as to warn ships of jagged and dangerous rocks that could mean death. Stepping Stones Lighthouse is off the coast of City Island, New York, where Eliza rows each day to attend school and church. When a loved one dies and her sister becomes pregnant, Eliza moves in with her sister and her husband at City Island's parsonage. Eliza's new life brings her many new opportunities- becoming a teacher, making new friends, and attending social gatherings. All is well for a while, but Eliza's grief over her loss eventually overwhelms her. She begins seeking comfort with Ralph, her brother's old friend, who is a wild, unattached, and mysterious man. This secret friendship soon blossoms into love, but Ralph is a social disgrace and not one to settle down with a job, home, and wife. By the time Eliza realizes that her relationship with Ralph will never work, she has disgraced herself and lost her teaching position. Read this wonderful book to learn how Eliza pulls through and, showing bravery, wits, and love, gains an opportunity for a bright future.

This book is sad and meaningful. It takes place in 1903-1904. It tells about the life of a fictional character, Eliza Charity Brown. It tells about her acomplishments and her rough times. This is a great book for girls. I would recommend that girls read this book. It is an excellent book.

This Was a fairly good book. It took place in the early 1900's. About 1903-904. It was about a seventeen-year-old girl named Eliza Brown, who was born and raised on City Island. She lives with her sister's family. Every night, she rows out to Stepping Stone Lighthouse with a boy, that is her best freind. She wonder's were she belongs. He new life is filled with challenges, freindships, and some painful decisions.