Candle Island by Lauren Wolk

Candle Island is a study of recovering from grief and forging new bonds.

Candle Island by Lauren Wolk. Dutton Children’s Books, 2025, 340 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-15

Lucretia Sanderson’s welcome to Candle Island, off the coast of Maine, wasn’t especially warm. The hardscrabble residents tend to resent the toney yachters who tie up there for the summer and act like they own the place. But Lucretia and her mother Eliza aren’t tourists or part-timers; they intend to make Candle Island their home. It’s partly because Eliza needs a place to paint in anonymity, which has become harder since the First Lady bought one of her paintings to hang in the White House. It’s also because she and her daughter need a peaceful home by the sea to process their sorrow over the loss of Lucretia’s dad.

Grief might be one reason why Lucretia decides to take responsibility for an abandoned baby bird she finds near the barn. It’s not a seagull, as she first supposes (hence the name Gulliver), but an osprey who will become a symbol of healing and renewal as the story progress. For a while Gulliver is her only friend, as townies and summer people are equally standoffish. A local shopkeeper hints it will take a while: “It’s hard work to get along. Worth it, of course. But impossible unless everyone makes the effort. Hard enough even then.”

Music provides a key to one of the local boys, who has an amazing talent he won’t share. Same goes for the girl who seem particularly hostile until Lucretia finds a clue in one of her poems. All three have their sorrows, but they also have their gifts and eventually will forge a bond against three of the rich kids who appear to have no gift but malice.

Candle Island is beautifully written, with vivid imagery that makes frequent use of color. The narrative moves slowly at first but picks up as the conflict with the summer people escalates. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for that conflict, unless the mean kids are just bored and looking for excitement. Those characters are flatter than they need to be, while Lucretia seems far more perceptive than her twelve years, and a surprising twist near the end stretches credulity. But the slow process of healing and the challenges and reward of friendship are completely believable.

Bottom Line: An affecting story of the power of art and the value of friendship.

Also at Redeemed Reader

• Reviews: Other books by Lauren Wolk we’ve reviewed or discussed: Wolf Hollow (a Newbery honor), Echo Mountain, Beyond the Bright Sea, and My Own Lightning.

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