LUCY’S LANE

In Milligan’s chapter book, a fourth grader with anxiety struggles to fit in at a new school when Covid-19 hits and the world is turned upside down.

The narrator and protagonist, Lucy Beacher, is in fourth grade and has suffered from severe anxiety since moving with her family from Michigan to Connecticut. Lucy’s big brother Charlie is a “yes-man” and has already befriended Alex, a popular kid (and a bully), but Lucy’s anxiety makes forging new friendships seem impossible. She’s not just terrified of being “weird”; Lucy also seems lonely, although she is close with her family. A few weeks after starting at her new school, the Covid-19 lockdown sends all the students home indefinitely. By summer break, Lucy’s family feel the restlessness of quarantine. Lucy begins to explore the neighborhood on her bike, meeting some of the residents—including lively old Cece, with her wonderful garden, and, eventually, two girls Lucy’s age who have come to stay for the summer. Confident and outgoing Bea bunks with her Granny across the lane, and cool Jade (with green tips dyed into her black hair) stays with her divorced dad and Nai Nai down the lane. Lucy begins to learn that everyone is different in their own way, and that being a good friend takes courage, especially during tumultuous times. This is a character-driven narrative, and the pace is steady and reflective. Milligan’s descriptions of anxiety are particularly honest and visceral: “‘Not now,’ I whisper to myself. ‘Please not now.’ No matter how hard I clench my fists, I feel it coming…My heart, my breath, my body, and my thoughts swirl up into a windy, whipping circle…I lose my breath.” The dialogue feels flat at times, but Lucy’s voice skillfully engenders empathy with a character who habitually eschews interpersonal connections. A whole generation of school kids disoriented by the chaos of Covid-19 and its aftermath needs stories to identify with, and Milligan’s tale ably fits the bill.

A lucid and hopeful story of a troubled kid navigating troubled times.