8. Candle Island by Lauren Wolk

listened on Audible

352 pgs. (9:24)

2025
Middle Grades HF (almost CRF)
Finished 2/7/2026
Goodreads rating: 4.31
My rating: 5
Setting: Island off the coast of Maine, approaching DownEast

My comments: I'm so glad I read this.  No cell phones, no computers, the encyclopedia at the library dates from 1902. In my head it was the 70s.  Many facets of the story....losing your dad, moving with your mom from Vermont to a Maine island - an island only accessible by ferry - saving an osprey baby and raising it, Townies vs Summer kids, making friends, fishing and horse riding, learning to sail and exploring.  And painting. So good.

Goodreads synopsis:  A moving portrait of loss and the restorative power of art from Lauren Wolk, the Newbery Honor-winning author of Beyond the Bright Sea.

Lucretia Sanderson has a secret.

Lucretia and her mother have come to tiny Candle Island, Maine ( Summer, 986; Winter, 315) to escape—escape memories of the car accident that killed her father and escape the journalists that hound her mother, a famous and reclusive artist. The rocky coast and ocean breeze are a welcome respite for Lucretia, who dedicates her summer days to painting, exploring the island, and caring for an orphaned osprey chick.

But Candle Island has secrets of its own—a hidden room in her new house, a mysterious boy with a beautiful voice—and just like the strong tides that surround the shores, they will catch Lucretia in their wake.

With an unforgettable New England setting and a complex web of relationships old and new, Candle Island is a powerful story about art, loss, and the power of being true to your own voice.