Beyond the Bright Sea: What happens to people when fear takes over? | Mentoring in the Middle

Beyond the Bright Sea: What happens to people when fear takes over?


Cover of Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

Crow washes up on an island, just hours old, wrapped in a blanket with a note pinned to her chest.

Osh finds her.  Decides to keep her.  Even though he lives alone on this tiny island, in a cottage he built from salvaged shipwrecks.

Newbery Honor Award winner (Wolf Hollow), Lauren Wolk has written a second remarkable book that deserves to be read.  Full of remote island exploits, unfairness, pirate gold, lost messages, suspense, and questions about worth, this historical fiction book will resonate with middle-grade readers.

Crow notices that people shake hands with Osh and Miss Maggie but not with her.  Is she too young?  Is it something else?

Crow insists that Osh and Miss Maggie take her to Penikese Island to find some clues about her birth parents.  

It hasn't been a leper colony for years, but it still makes people uncomfortable.

Black and white photo of Penikese Island cabins
Crow hopes to find some clues will help her understand more about her family if she's even from there.  

There's an old rumor about a pirate treasure hidden on the island, and Crow discovers someone doesn't want her snooping around.  Someone who's not afraid to get that message across.

Like many historical fiction books, this one takes its time to set the scene of the remote Elizabeth Islands off the coast of Massachusetts.  Once you get going, you won't want to put this book down!

"'Don't you understand, Crow?' he said, his voice so sad, so tender, that I couldn't breathe.  'You're the one worth finding.'"

This would make a great read-aloud for 5th, 6th, or 7th-grade students.

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