KEEPER OF THE LIGHT

Following in the footsteps of the lighthouse keepers found in Peter and Connie Roop's Keep the Lights Burning, Abbie (1985, not reviewed) and Deborah Hopkinson's Birdie's Lighthouse (p. 722), Faith keeps the oil burning on the shores of Lake Superior on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a story set more than 100 years ago. After her father's untimely death trying to rescue a schooner, Faith takes charge of the lighthouse duties, considered man's work. When her father's replacement finally arrives, Faith reluctantly moves to town, where she spills tea, ruins her boots, wears trousers, and skips school, to the consternation of her mother. The adventure scenes, e.g., when Faith sneaks on horseback out to the lighthouse, are taut with suspense, although the formal language and contrived dialogue distract from the fast-paced action. Faith as girl-heroine-in-a-man's-world becomes overly self-conscious, until readers will feel fairly hit over the head with the fact that she is independent, capable, and going against convention. Nevertheless, there are many rousing moments in Curtis's first book, about a girl as ``strong as a fall storm on the lake.'' (bibliography) (Fiction. 10-14)