Candle Island by Lauren Wolk (published 2025) begins with an epigraph by James McNeil Whistler: “As music is the poetry of sound, so is painting the poetry of sight and the subject-matter has nothing to do with harmony of sound or of color.” This book is a gorgeous middle grade fiction novel with an overarching sense of art, creativity, and love with those things. Music and painting and poetry are all a super important part of the novel.
The novel begins with a poem about a bird who loves a girl that’s on the land, a girl who looks like a bird. Then, in a prologue, the author mentions 6 different mysteries that the narrator faces on the island, which gives the entire story an intriguing hint at what will come in the book to follow: a bird, a hidden room, a song, a poet, a cat, and a fire. I like books that give a little bit of a hint about what it’s going to be about from the very beginning. Candle Island does not disappoint.
Our narrator is Lucretia Sanderson, named after Lucretia Mott. She and her mother are the newest permanent residents of Candle Island, a tiny vacation island off the coast of Maine. Of course, the permanent residents have a challenge when the population goes from 300 to more than a thousand every summer. There is contention between islanders and visitors. As a newcomer, Lucy has her work cut out in order for her to make friends.
Not only does our narrator face six mysteries, which she works through the course of the book, but she also has her own mystery that has brought her and her mother to Candle Island. After I finished the book, I immediately wanted to read it again, mostly because I loved careful, unfolding of the plot but also for the gorgeous writing.
Every description in this book is simply gorgeous. The whole thing feels literary, too, from just the very first page; from the name of our character to the name of the yachts in the harbor (Poseidon, Leviathan, etc.) to the discussions of the characters, there are intelligent conversations about philosophy and art, all at a middle grade novel level.
So with both writing, the context, and loveable characters, Candle Island was my favorite read of 2025 (and so far for 2026 as well, since I reread it in January). As I began this blog post on Saturday, January 24, I had high hopes that this book would be recognized at the ALA Youth Literature and Media Awards on Monday, January 26, specifically for the Newbery award. But, alas, it was not mentioned. I was surprised there was no recognition, since the writing is delicious, the themes are gorgeous, and the whole story fits together like a puzzle.
Just a few quotes to illustrate.
About Music
I stood up straight and listened [to the music], tipping my head to catch the sound of it, ebbing and flowing in a gauzy distant way like a conversation among ghosts, a beautiful blue sound that edged toward purple when his voice was low toward a pale early morning blue when his voice rose. Though there were other colors threaded into the blue , all of them really. (page 61)
About Art
If the hot yellow had been music it would have been a tuba, I thought. Something deep and slow and heavy. (page 73)
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