Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks

Brooks, M. (2007). Mistik Lake. (p. 224). Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR).

ISBN: 0374349851

Classification:book, fiction

Genre: realistic fiction

Age Level: 9th-12th grade

Subjects: coming of age, death, family, fiction, identity, love story

Reader's Annotation: Three generations of women are drawn to the shores of Mistik Lake where their lives unfold in a small, interrelated community.

Summary: This is a slow, gentle sort of book. It is the story of three generations of women. Sally was the sole survivor of a tragic car accident on the frozen Mistik Lake in 1981. Her oldest daughter, Odella, understands her mothers loneliness and burgeoning alcoholism, and tries to hold her family together after her mother runs away to Iceland with a filmmaker. Sally's aunt, Gloria, owns the cabin on Mistik Lake where Odella spends her summers. Gloria also has secrets but she does what she can for Sally's girls. The story is set on the shores of Mistik Lake, where everyone knows everyone, and most people are related if one goes back a generation or two.

Reviews / Awards:

Canadian Review of Material's Review

Author Info:
Author info from the Manitoba Author Index Website

Potential Hotspots:

homosexuality, teen drinking, parental infedelity

Readalikes:

• Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron
  
• Backwater by Joan Bauer
  

Why it belongs in a YA collection:
This interwoven story feels rich and complex, and will be a treat for readers ready for something "more adult," though the material itself is not racy. There's something about this book that feels like a Jane Austen or Emily Bronte novel, with language that is much more approachable.

Other: Martha Brooks frequently appears on ALA lists of best books.

Evaluation:

4 stars