Lucy’s Lane

In Milligan’s heartstring-tugging debut, an anxious, white-cued middle schooler’s world is turned upside down at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Having recently moved from Michigan to Connecticut, fourth grader Lucy is having a hard time making school friends even before lockdown begins. Now attending classes online, Lucy struggles to navigate a “tornado” of feelings, including loneliness and anxiety. These emotions are exacerbated by the knowledge that her cardiologist father must help treat Covid patients at his new hospital job. Soon, newcomers Bea and her younger brother move in down the street, and their arrival brings with them a friend-making opportunity for Lucy. As summer begins, Lucy discovers the joys of companionship and begins to feel hope for the first time since leaving Michigan, even as big emotions continue raging inside her. Lucy’s first-person perspective at times feels overly mature for her age, particularly as she considers her mother’s worry for her father. Leveraging ruminative reflections about 2020 American politics and society, Milligan crafts a quietly contemplative novel about one girl’s yearning for stability amid turbulent circumstances. Ages 8–11. (Self-published)