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

By Lois Lowry

In 1918, while WWI rages in Europe, Spanish Influenza ravages the United States, and Lydia Pierce sees her hometown changing as a result. Makeshift hostpitals 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?