The Light in the Lake

June 15, 2019
While Addie's close-knit family and rural Vermont community grieve her twin's accidental drowning in Maple Lake last winter, only Addie knows why Amos ventured onto the ice that night. Addie, a future aquatic biologist, scoffed when Amos insisted a large creature lived in the lake. Joining a scientific team investigating Maple Lake for the summer allows her to revisit what she regrets dismissing. Her parents and extended family cherish the pristine lake too, but Addie's eagerness to explore it troubles them and limits the time she can devote to raising a 4-H calf with her cousin, Liza. (Their fathers grew up on the dairy farm Liza's family runs). All are reluctant to believe Maple Lake's in trouble, but there's no denying the evidence Addie produces with the Chinese American lead scientist's son, Tai. Also 12, Tai's a likable city kid who reminds her of Amos. Addie shares her brother's theory with Tai, and this--with the water samples they've collected--points to an unexpected source for the lake's problems. Tai shares her concern; he's seen pollution's impact when in China. Addie's close-knit, homogenous (presumably white) community wants to blame superstore construction and overdevelopment for the pollution, but not all problems come from outside. Baughman convincingly portrays the varied reactions to the findings as well as everybody's desire for the lake to thrive. Without a villain to blame or superhero offering easy solutions, the book offers appealing characters whose opposing interests embody what's at stake. Compassionately told, this compelling debut brings to life conservation issues and choices young readers will confront as adults. (Fiction. 8-12)

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August 1, 2019

Gr 4-7-Just a few months after her twin brother drowns in Maple Lake, 12-year-old Addie accepts a summer position as a Young Scientist researching the source of the lake's pollution. While taking water samples with her new friend Tai, Addie also investigates the mysterious creature rumored to live deep in the lake-the creature her brother was looking for the night he drowned. The well-developed Vermont setting shines as the book explores the fraught conflict between struggling family farms and the expensive changes required to comply with environmental laws. However, it is the nuanced depiction of grief within a small community, a family, and Addie herself that sets this story apart. VERDICT A complex take on science, magic, grief, and family for fans of thoughtful realistic fiction in the vein of Kathi Appelt's, Erin Entrada Kelly's, and Ali Benjamin's novels.-Molly Saunders, Homewood Public Library, AL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 2, 2019
Three months before the start of this debut novel, 12-year-old Addie’s twin brother, Amos, fell through the ice into Maple Lake, the deepest lake in Vermont and their favorite place. Addie is still grieving when she earns the opportunity to join a local Young Scientist summer program, assisting a university’s biological station in its investigation of Maple Lake’s pollution. It’s Addie’s dream to become an aquatic biologist, and although she feels that the lake remains “a part of me that hurts to look at,” she feels deeply connected to it. Amos took meticulous notes about a creature he believed lived in its waters, “something ancient and huge and shining,” and after Addie is given a tooth too large to be a whale’s, she interprets it as her first clue. With a new friend, Tai, at her side, she sets out to solve Amos’s mystery, as well as the source of the lake’s pollution. In Baughman’s skillful handling, Addie’s memories of her brother and her first-person voice are both heartbreaking and hopeful. The novel offers a gentle, introspective exploration of grief and the wonder and fragility of nature, creating a beautiful and dynamic world in which the scientific method and magic coexist. Ages 8–12.

Caitlin Kelly gives a compassionate, heartrending performance in this audiobook about a 12-year-old girl who is grieving her twin brother's death. Kelly's clear voice draws listeners in as Addie is invited to join a group of scientists studying pollution in the beloved Vermont lake where her brother drowned four months earlier, while searching for a mysterious, possibly magical, lake creature. Addie is compelled to continue her brother's quest but in the process discovers that her own family's farm may be contributing to the destruction of the lake. Addie's sincere attempts to balance honoring her brother, saving the lake, and protecting her family are convincingly conveyed. Kelly is at her best when portraying Addie's choking grief and emptiness at the loss of her brother. S.C. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

July 1, 2019
Grades 4-6 Months after her twin brother, Amos, drowned in nearby Maple Lake, 12-year-old Addie is haunted by her late brother's belief that a mysterious Loch Ness-type creature, something ancient and huge and shining, lives in its depths, a notion she had initially rejected. When her science teacher offers her a summer opportunity to help researchers studying pollution levels in the lake, she jumps at it. Yes, she wants to protect the lake, but she also plans to continue Amos' investigations. Drawn to Maple Lake, Addie acknowledges her parents' safety concerns but sneaks around their protective rules. Tae, a Chinese American boy whose mother leads the pollution project, becomes her friend and fellow adventurer. Baughman's first novel deals with a girl shadowed by her brother's death but not consumed by grief. Instead, she tries to hold it at arm's length until she's ready to deal with it. Science-minded kids will value Addie's fact-based approach to saving the lake, while fantasy-lovers will appreciate her open-mindedness. And every tween will understand her drive toward independence. The appealing jacket art will draw middle-grade readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)