Crow is a determined and dynamic heroine with a strong intuition, who pieces together the puzzle of her past while making profound realizations about the definition of family. After persuading Osh and their friend Miss Maggie to investigate, she takes the first step in an emotional quest to discover who her parents were. When Crow, now 12, spots a fire across the water on Penikese, her curiosity is awakened. Since then, Crow has enjoyed a tranquil existence, except for being ostracized by those who believe she came from nearby Penikese Island, which housed lepers. Osh, the introverted painter who found her, named her and took her in. As a baby, Crow was found in a boat washed up on a (fictional) Massachusetts island. Vivid and heart-wrenching, Lauren Wolk’s Beyond the Bright Sea is a gorgeously crafted and tensely paced tale that explores questions of identity, belonging, and the true meaning of family.Ĭreating mystery and suspense in an unusual setting, Newbery Honor winner Wolk (Wolf Hollow) spins an intriguing tale of an orphan determined to find her roots, set in the 1920s. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger. Abandoned and set adrift in a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow’s only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar.Ĭrow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn’t until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. The moving story of an orphan, determined to know her own history, who discovers the true meaning of family. ★ “ Crow is a determined and dynamic heroine.” - Publishers Weekly Wolk unfolds with uncommon grace.” – The Wall Street Journal “The sight of a campfire on a distant island…proves the catalyst for a series of discoveries and events-some poignant, some frightening-that Ms. A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year.A Southern Living Best Book of the Year.A Charlotte Observer Best Book of the Year.A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year.A Parents’ Magazine Best Book of the Year.

Winner of the 2018 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction -įrom the bestselling author of Echo Mountain and Newbery Honor–winner Wolf Hollow, Beyond the Bright Sea is an acclaimed best book of the year.

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk