LIGHTHOUSE LADIES

True tales of daring and dedication.

Coronado highlights the bravery, fortitude, and persistence exhibited by four female lighthouse keepers. In 1869, Ida Lewis rowed out and rescued two sailors when their boat capsized in Rhode Island’s Newport Harbor. Juliet Nichols sounded a bell for hours to warn of fog in San Francisco Bay in 1906. In 1912, with low temperatures and icy waters cutting her and her husband’s lighthouse off from the mainland, “Aunt” Venus Parker rowed off to Chincoteague, Virginia, in search of supplies. And in 1925, Julia Toomey, a young native Hawaiian, helped keep the light burning at Oahu’s Makapu’u Point after her lighthouse keeper father’s death. The stories of these four intrepid heroes are exciting and well told in lively, smartly paced, and casually rhyming prose. The last few pages meaningfully expand the book’s reach, helping readers connect these exciting stories to their own lives as they face challenges and encouraging them to embrace both the big and the small moments of life. Thorough backmatter offers more context, with a page devoted to Julia Toomey. Dramatic, deep-toned artwork is a perfect match for the text, combining the stylized and the realistic and grabbing readers’ attention with unusual compositions in precisely detailed but sweeping graphic spreads.

Inspiring episodes from the lives of four admirable women.