Like the Willow Tree: The Diary of Lydia Amelia Pierce, Portland, Maine, 1918

In 1918, while WWI rages in Europe, Spanish Influenza ravages the United States, and Lydia Pierce sees her hometown changing as a result. Makeshift hospitals are set up in schools and churches, and Portland's streets and shops are empty. Then, the unthinkable happens: Lydia loses her parents and baby sister to the flu. She and her moody older brother, who wants nothing more than to join the army and fight overseas, are sent to live in a Shaker community in Northern Maine, which takes in orphans.The Shaker way of life is strange at first, but eventually Lydia comes to embrace the simplicity, humility, and diligent hard work that characterize the Shakers. But when her brother really does run away, Lydia is wracked with worry. What will become of him? And what will become of the Shakers as their way of life becomes increasingly difficult?Lois Lowry has woven a gorgeous and incredibly moving story of one girl's struggle to face the hardest time she's ever known. But with her indomitable courage and spark, Lydia finds her way.