Candle Island Lauren Wolk

"Six mysteries waited for me on Candle Island.

One involved a bird.

The second a hidden room.

A song the third.

A poet the fourth.

A cat fifth.

A fire sixth.

Each of them exciting in its own way.

But none more interesting than the mystery I took there with me."

Begin with the cover - I really like it and after reading this book you will want to go back and see how an important story element has been incorporated into this illustration. 

Here is the quote on the opening page - it is very pertinent to this story:

"As music is the poetry of sound, so is painting the poetry of sight." James McNeill Whistler

I think sensitive readers (with some reading stamina) aged 10+ will really enjoy Candle Island. I had no idea this story was set in the 1970s (see the Kirkus review).  I loved the island setting and the way Lucretia and her mum were keeping the identity of the artist of their famous paintings a secret kept me turning the pages knowing that they were sure to be discovered. I was also happy that there was no twist at the end and that the bad things that happened on the island were all down to those awful rich kids as Lucretia, Bastian and Murdock suspected. If you look at the labels I have assigned this post you can see the plot covers a lot of things - Lucretia finds a wounded baby bird (an osprey) and she nurses him back to health; there are three summer kids who are dreadful bullies; there is an art theft; the island is small and suspicious of strangers; Lucretia and her mum are experiencing terrible pain after the death of her father; and each of the three island kids has a special talent. Oh, and I do need to mention two more things - mum cooks delicious food in this book and I adore the town librarian (I think I need to make a list of books that feature very special librarians).

Curious readers might want to know more about osprey birds after reading this book. Also Lucretia is named after Lucretia Mott - a Quaker suffragist and anti-slavery campaigner. You might also want to learn more about the scale of being or the Great Chain of Being. 

Candle Island is set on an island - I know that is obvious - so I was not surprised to read Lauren Wolk lives on Cape Cod. I really enjoy visiting islands and I enjoy books set on islands and even though I have not been there for some reason Maine, USA has a special fascination for me.

Here are some text quotes:

"When I let myself spill onto the canvas like melted wax, I built a world where I felt exactly right, entirely who I really was. Free. Unwatched. Alone."

"He was singing a story. A sad one that suddenly became something else and then something else again, the colour changing as the story did, from a radiant magenta to some kind of violet. And then a gold I rarely heard."

"When I hit the water, my head exploded. Every particle of my body panicked. It was as if I'd been injected with frozen mint. As if my skin was size too small. As if I'd been scoured with a wire brush dipped in acid. All of that, all at once."

The town librarian - notice the placement of the word beautiful: "She was old. Thin. In a black dress with a lace collar. Her hair was a beautiful white, twisted into a crown on top of her head. Her skin was the same deep brown as my eyes. ... At her full height she was smaller than I was, but she seemed much taller."

"The most common form of despair is not being who you are - Soren Kierkegaard"

There are certain authors for children that are capable of the kind of writing that is not merely full of strong character growth and interesting plotting, but legitimately lovely prose as well. On a single page I found lines that end with glimpses of a “bruise-blue sea.” Or, when Lucretia thinks about befriending the prickly Murdock, she is thinking of, “How adding even a little yellow to the coldest gray could warm it toward something altogether new. But Murdock was a girl, not a painting. I would have to remember that.” I mark in my copy of this book the lines I like best. What’s remarkable about them is how seamlessly they’re integrated into the plot. Betsy Bird SLJ

And bottom line, this is a beautiful book set on a beautiful island off the coast of Maine. It will linger in your heart. Sonder Books

Wolk’s latest novel wonderfully portrays new relationships while tackling grief and self-discovery. The characters are well developed, and readers can see parts of themselves and those they know. The book also has several small mysteries that readers will be itching to solve. While a work of historical fiction, the story has the modern feel of a quiet life without current technology and trends. School Library Journal

Here is an interview with Lauren Wolk.

I spied this book some weeks ago and knowing how much I loved every previous book by Lauren Wolk, I added it to my 'to read' and 'to buy' list. Luckily for me this book has appeared in the library where I work as a volunteer, so I borrowed it and read it over one or two days. This is a longish book with 340 pages, but the print size makes it easy to read and of course Lauren Wolk creates a page turning story with characters you really care about. The library has a copy because this book was sold as a Scholastic Australia Book Club title (issue 5, 2025 AUS$12). We are having extreme rain conditions in my city and so today (after some very necessary chores) I snuggled down beside my heater and finished read Candle Island.

Publisher (Scholastic Australia) blurb: Lucretia and her mother have come to tiny Candle Island, Maine (Population: Summer, 986; Winter, 315) with a secret to keep ... and 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 also has secrets—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, this is a powerful story about art, loss and the power of being true to your own voice.

There is a huge error in my Scholastic Australia copy of this book. This book was originally published in hardcover by the Penguin Young Readers Group [9780593698549]. My copy in paperback is a new 'edition' BUT the imprint page does not acknowledge the original publisher or date of publication AND the author's name is spelt incorrectly as Wolke. This is funny but also disturbing. 

Other books I have loved by Lauren Wolk:

Wolf Hollow

My Own Lightning

Beyond the Bright Sea

Echo Mountain

The 113th Assistant Librarian by Stuart Wilson

"My name is Hieronymus Finch-Thackeray, and I think you are splendidly suited 

to become the 113th assistant librarian. What say you?"

You might like to begin here with my previous post about The 113th Assistant Librarian - which I wrote after hearing the author Stuart Wilson and before I read his book almost in one sitting!

"My dear boy, books are powerful ... They are more than simple bound pages. Books may record the past, predict the future, or hold the darkest of secrets. At their best they are societal equalisers. At their worst ... well! Words can teach the truth as easily as they can spin a lie. And that's not even considering that which lurks between the lines. The knife of interpretation is paper-thin, yet it cuts through minds with the slightest of pressure. Underestimate books at your peril."

Oliver Wormwood has found his calling. He will now work at the library but on his very first day the librarian dies. There is no one else who can run the library so Oliver must step into the role and learn how the run the library and keep the borrowers happy and keep himself safe from the very dangerous books and he must do this very quickly or he too might end up dead!

I have said this before but I marvel at the imagination of some writers. There are so many fabulous moments in The 113th Assistant Librarian - inventive plot twists that made me gasp and smile. 

This book has it all:

• It is a page turner
• It has some laugh out loud funny moments (wait till you encounter the hideous bookworms and that pesky firedrake owner)
• It has a hero you will love along with his two friends Agatha and Ember and a series of cats some of whom are very helpful
• It is set in a library - surely that is enough to tell you it will be interesting 
• There are parts of this story that will resonate with all librarians - such as due date stamps, the power of bookmarks and the need for shelving and classification systems. This made me laugh "He'd been working in the library so long that his idea of a deadly weapon usually comprised a preface, an afterword, and a bunch of pages in between."
• The titles of the various books are hilarious and so inventive - I wanted to create a list of them
• There are moments of great drama and danger
• And this book contains the most amazingly rich vocabulary

Oliver Wormwood is a splendid character. I love his emotional intelligence, his natural ability to understand and embrace how libraries work, his desire to keep the library organised and tidy, and surprisingly, his attention to his own cleanliness.

"He paused to wash the mud off his shirt in the Spellwater Fountain ..."

"He even got into a rhythm when it came to washing his clothes and bedding. Finding a spot in the otherwise overgrown garden that was lucky enough to receive sunlight for a few hours a day, he tied some string from one tree to another to form a washing line ... he did not like to have dirty clothes strewn all over the floor."

Vocabulary: demeanour, impartiality, codex, gauntlet, coffer (small chest), bandolier, imperative, cantankerous, decagonal, dodecagonal, glommed, trepidation, clerestory (a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level), synchrony, chapodiphobia (fear of octopuses), poultice, exsanguinate, illustrious, ruminate, surreptitiously, filching, kettle helm, text block, Inncunabula, parley and parlay.

I do like the character names.  His sisters are called Heloise, Isolde, Willow, Elsbeth and Octavia. The town where Oliver lives is called Blackmoor-upon-Wyvern. A wyvern is a small dragon so this is most certainly a place filled with magic. If you plan to introduce this book to your students I suggest sharing some of the character descriptions:

"An old man dressed in a long magenta cloak stepped forward. He peered at Oliver over a pair of tiny reading glasses perched on the edge of his long nose."

"(he) came face to face with a tall woman with shoulder-length straight brown hair wearing a cloak of midnight blue. The bronze bracelets poking through her tattered cuffs signaled her power ... "

"An old man stood before Oliver. He had a slight hunch and grey wiry eyebrows so long they might have been about to take flight. ... He was dressed in a threadbare knee-length jacket and breeches and he had holes in his shoes. ... His skin was so pale it could have been made from porcelain."

"Dressed in a sodden cloak of midnight blue, the slim man was average height, with a narrow face and pointy nose. He had a long tuft of black hair growing from his chin that he had knotted into a braid. ... He had light brown eyes that were almost amber, an attribute that was hard to ignore because the man maintained eye contact for a fraction longer than was customary."

"The man was wearing a lurid green cravat which gave the effect of a frog perched on his collarbone."

There will be a second adventure for Oliver by Stuart Wilson- and it is sure to be just as good as this first one.  Listen to an audio sample from the first installment here. In this insightful interview Joy Lawn talks to Stuart Wilson about his book. 

I recommend The 113th Assistant Librarian for readers aged 10+.  It could also be a terrific class or family read aloud. There is an interesting political layer to this story that you could explore with older readers around the idea of censorship and corruption of the populace through knowledge. The 'Member for Upper-Lower Tumbledown Barrows tells Oliver to remove all books about yellow or golden apples - you need to read the book to find out why. I also loved the description on page 183 where Oliver's friend London Llewelyn describes his 'occupational and health' training as an apprentice lamplighter.

This story is such fun for anyone who knows even a little bit about how libraries are supposed to work. ... This is an exciting original fantasy written by a person who loves words, books and ideas. It has the usual middle grade themes of testing yourself, coping with high family expectations, and finding unexpected friendships, but it is also interlaced with some thought- provoking ideas about the nature and power of books, and the need for free access to knowledge. Story Links

I think the CBCA 2025 judges must be having a very hard time this year deciding on their Younger Readers notables, short list and winners. Here are two others I also loved.

The Midwatch

The scene in chapter 18 of The 113th Assistant Librarian made me think of this wonderful picture book which is sure to be in most Australian school libraries:

Stuart Wilson says: I wanted to set a story in a library because they are such unique places. Anyone, old or young, can walk straight in, spend hours reading or watching or listening – without spending any money. And there are staff on hand to help you, should you need them – magical places indeed!

Other books set in libraries:

The Lost Library

Leeva at Last

Escape from Mr Lemoncello's Library

The Mysterious Librarian

Companion books:

Vincent and the grandest hotel on Earth

The Book of Wondrous Possibilities

The Hatmakers (this story also explores Guilds)

The Midwatch by Judith Rossell

"Good gravy. What is actually going on here?"

"Holy mackerel"

Getting kicked out of one orphanage and being sent to another is absolutely the best thing that could ever have happened to Maggie. Yes, I did say the 'best thing'. Sister Immaculata delivers Maggie Fishbone to The Midwatch Institute for Orphans, Runaways and Unwanted Girls. 

Maggie's first impression is that this is a thoroughly dreadful place. I have emphasised some of the words in these quotes to give you an idea about this place:

"The woman frowned, let them in, the closed the door behind them with a heavy thud."

"They were wearing long, grey hooded cloaks, and they walked silently past with their eyes down."

"The gloomy organ music echoed around the hallway. Maggie could feel the sadness seeping into her like a trickle of cold water."

"The woman opened the door into a large, shadowy room full of tables and chairs."

"At the far end of the room was a platform, where an extremely tall lady, as upright as a ruler, was playing the organ. She had a grim expression and a black eye-patch and she wore an old-fashioned black gown that reached to the ground."

You now have an impression of The Midwatch but I have to tell you that you are entirely mistaken. Maggie Fishbone, Nell Wozniak and Sofie Zarescu - the three new girls - are all in for a huge shock. All of those sights and sounds from the first scene are designed to trick the outside world and especially people like Sister Immaculata. 

What is really going on in this place? How are the activities connected with the night monster - a creature that has been attacking people in the Northside of the city.  Why do the girls need to learn codes, German, fencing and even stranger subjects like Hiding and Observing? Why has the librarian Dr Entwhistle been hurt and where is Miss Fenechurch? Surely she was just using the library for innocent plant research. 

Judith Rossell is so skilled at world building and she also knows how to write about delicious food.

"The hot chocolate was rich and delicious and quite different from the watery cocoa they sometimes had at the orphanage."

"Maggie hesitated, then took the closest cake, which was shaped like a frog. It was sweet and crumbly and filled with strawberry cream. She finished it in three slightly messy bites."

"Maggie was very hungry, despite all the cakes. They filled their plates with stew, mashed potatoes and green peas."

"On Sundays, there was no morning bell and no lessons, and there were hot cinnamon waffles with maple syrup for breakfast."

If you look at my labels for this post you will see Steampunk because the world of this book is somewhere in the past and perhaps set in a city a little like London or maybe New York (there are two lions outside the library), but this place also has some modern technology and of course airships like the one you can see on the cover. Here is another illustration:

I don't usually quote cover endorsements but I totally agree with Jaclyn Moriarty:

"A cracking concept, sensational characters and absolutely smashing pictures. The Midwatch is the cat's pyjamas."

I can't recommend The Midwatch highly enough. Pop it on your Christmas shopping list and your school library wish list. If your school library buys the Standing Order service from Scholastic, or the Lamont Standing order, or the standing order from Pegi Williams then you will already have a copy of The Midwatch. Why not take it home to read over the Christmas break - you are sure to thoroughly enjoy this clever, page-turning story. And I love the way the publisher Hardie Grant has produced this book as a scrumptious textured hardback.

I am certain The Midwatch will feature in our 2025 CBCA Younger Readers award lists - Notable title and Shortlist and it would not surprise me if this book is even the winner!

POST UPDATE - This book didn't make the CBCA short list - I am so shocked and desperately disappointed for Judith Rossell. Today (6th May, 2025) I saw this book has now arrived in the US. It has a new cover, amended title and a glowing STAR review from Kirkus:

Cinematic, amusing, and exciting: a slightly subversive, 

delightfully empowering, all-around winner.

Australian review comments:

The biggest children's book of the year! The Midwatch is the long-awaited new middle-grade novel from internationally bestselling author–illustrator Judith Rossell. Readings Melbourne

... even the women running the Midwatch have their secrets and connections that nobody really knows about. This is a fun novel, because it uses the girl detective trope well, and plays with it. It allows the girls to be brave and doing things that nobody expects them to do whilst finding ways to blend in with the society. ... This amazing book is one that has something for all readers who come to this book, and is magical for all ages. The Book Muse

This is a rollicking adventure and mystery that has surprises on every page. Judith Rossell has again created an amazing world that you will easily get lost in. Maggie and her classmates are smart, funny and full of life and the Institute has such brilliant classes! A fast-paced and thrilling story that is sure to be a firm favorite, as the girls prove that they are not to be underestimated, and that friendship and trust and determination can overcome even the most scary situations. I absolutely loved this book and it will suit curious minds, 10 years and older. Lamont Books

Companion books:

Cogheart

The Unadoptables

Sweet Adversity

The Runaways of Haddington Hall

The Mysterious Benedict Society

Crookhaven The School for Thieves

Here are other books by Judith Rossell - she also did the splendid art in her book and I am lucky to own a small piece from Withering-by-Sea.

Withering-by-Sea

Wormwood Mire

Wakestone Hall

A Garden of Lilies

Little Puggle's Song by Vikki Conley illustrated by Helene Magisson

All of the birds contribute to the bush chorus. You can hear the little blue wren, the fantail, the Sulphur crested cockatoo, and the laughter of Brown Feather. Little Puggle longs to join them but he just cannot make a sound. Even the Kangaroo and Koala can grunt and click. Brown Feather is in charge of the orchestra. Brown Feather is a kookaburra but on the day they all need to sing to help the emu family with their eggs, Brown Feather is ill. How can the chorus still sing without their leader? Little Puggle has the answer. He has been quietly watching Brown Feather. He plucks a long quill from his back and the singing can begin!

Little Puggle's Song was a Notable Early Childhood Book of the Year by The Children's Book Council of Australia in 2020. Here are some brief teachers notes. I this interview Vikki Conley talks about the inspiration for her story and here is her webpage. Read this extensive review on The Neverending Bookshelf. In this video Vikki Conley reads her book. 

This deceptively simple story is  all about joining in, finding your own special talent and the warmth of community and of course, the power of music. Sure to appeal to the very young and everybody else as well. Storylinks

The stand out illustrations with beautiful colour and light create a dreamy Australian setting, and an instant connection with Little Puggle’s character. Vikki Conley’s captivating story-telling and Helene Magison’s pictures flow and lift each other to make a wholesome and stunning book with a cover so delightful that it warmed my heart before I even opened it. Kids' Book Review

Early in 2024 Orchestra Victoria turned Little Puggle's Song into a performance - I wish I had known about this - it must have been very special.

Hello and welcome to Little Puggles Song, one of Orchestra Victoria’s special Storytime Series, designed for our young and young-at-heart audiences. Telling stories is at the heart of what we do here at Orchestra Victoria, and we are so thrilled to bring you Vikki Conley’s book in a new and interactive way, with an enthralling composition by well-known composer Maria Grenfell and featuring a selection of our talented Orchestra Victoria musicians. We hope you enjoy the musical prowess of today’s performance as they bring this exciting musical score to life telling the story of Puggle, the young echidna who wants to find his voice so he can take part in the bush choir.

Here is the sequel:

I guess by now you have worked out the word puggle is the term for a baby echidna. I have often thought I would love to talk to an international audience of children's literature fans about our Australian animals and the way they are portrayed in picture books - especially the less well-known animals such as the echidna. 

• Echidnas, along with the platypus, are the only mammals known to lay eggs, placing them in the unique mammalian subclass of monotremes.
• An echidna’s tongue can shoot out of its snout at remarkable speeds, up to 100 times per minute, to capture ants and termites.
• Echidnas have a highly developed sense of smell and a significant portion of their brain is dedicated to olfactory processing.
• Echidnas make up 4 of the 5 surviving species of monotremes.
• Echidnas are great swimmers.
• Echidnas are covered in quills. These quills are made of keratin, the same material that makes up hair, claws, and fur. The keratin proteins harden into spikes that protect the echidna from harsh conditions and predators.
• Echidnas are powerful diggers.
• They produce milk from patches of skin. Young echidnas suckle on these patches and draw milk through pores in the mother echidna’s skin.
• Young echidnas suckle on these patches and draw milk through pores in the mother echidna’s skin.

I previously talked about these books by Vikki Conley:

Under the red shawl

Amira's Suitcase

Milly and the Mulberry tree

And I previously talked about these book illustrated by Helene Magisson:

Sarah's Two Nativities

The secret boat

Quickly Quickly

Before you were born

How to break a world record and survive Grade Five by Carla Fitzgerald

Sam is obsessed with one book - we would call it The Guiness Book of Records. Sam calls it The Big Book of Records. He reads this book at school, in the school library at lunch time, with his best friend Vihaan after school and on weekends. If you look closely at the cover you can see some the world records that Sam has tried to beat and yes, they are all fairly crazy! For example: most sticky notes stuck on a face in one minute - 60 - set by someone in USA in 2014. 

In his class the teacher announces a new assignment.

"In 500 words describe your proudest moment. You will be asked to read your work to the class and are welcome to bring in any certificates, trophies or other relevant objects to help describe this moment."

There are two key words in this assignment that cause Sam huge distress - certificates and trophies. His sister has certificates displayed all over their fridge. And there are trophies in her room and other parts of the house because, even though she is only nine years old, it feels to Sam that she is the family superstar, and he is almost invisible. 

The class assignment gives Sam and idea - IF he can break a world record, and IF he can do it all the official way and have witnesses and time keepers etc, and IF he can submit this to the World Record people in time, he MIGHT get a certificate and he MIGHT gain some recognition in his family and best of all he MIGHT have something fabulous to share for this school assignment. The other kids MIGHT even be hugely impressed.

Of course, some records are impossible, some are messy, some cost money and they don't much of that in his one parent family, some rely on involving others such as his friend or sister but then he hits on the best record that he surely can achieve - the most scoops of ice cream balanced on a single cone - 125 - set by someone in Italy in 2018. And luckily Sam is friends with the man who drives the local ice cream van. 

Publisher blurb: Sam is a kind and thoughtful eleven-year-old, but he thinks he’s not that great at anything. His sister, Ava, is a soccer star and his best friend, Vihaan, is an award-winning artist. The one thing Sam is good at is knowing all about the extraordinary feats in the Big Book of Records. When Sam is set a class project about a moment he’s proud of, he can’t think of anything and takes inspiration from his favourite book. He knows he’ll be proud of himself if he can break a world record! But breaking a world record isn’t easy. And things get even harder when someone close to Sam needs his help and he must decide: will he be good? Or be the best?

You do have to stick with this book because the real action or purpose or poignant moment doesn't happen until page 250 and the whole book is only 278 pages so this moment is nearly at the end of the journey we have taken with Sam as he tries to break a world record and gain some level of fame in his family, class, and neighborhood.

This book will appeal to readers aged 10+. It is an easy book to read and Australian readers will understand the local references. One small example is the Good Guys electrical retail store from here in Australia is called The Great Guys in this story. 

Each chapter begins with a world record (some are real and some specific to Sam):

Longest Handstand 11.82 minutes; Heaviest watermelon 159kg; Most socks put on one foot in under thirty seconds = 22 socks; Largest collection of garden gnomes 2042; and so on. 

Here is the website for the author Carla Fitzgerald. Thank you to UQP for this advance copy. How to break a world record and survive Grade Five will be published at the end of July, 2024.

I previously talked about:

How to be Prime Minister and survive Grade Five

I once made a library display or set of posters with book that incorporated grade names - but sadly most of these are now out of print.

I was a Third Grade Spy; Captain Jimmy Cook discovers Third Grade

Keena Ford and the Second Grade mix-up

The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary

The Last fifth grade of Emerson Elementary