Mistik Lake by Martha Brooks
Allen and Unwin, 2008
(Age 13+) A generation before, Odella's mother was the sole survivor of
a car crash through the ice on Mistik Lake. Now the whole story comes
to a climax, after Odella's mother is killed in Iceland, following her
abandonment of her family, and Odella meets the son of her aunt's
childhood friend, Violet. All are connected by the childhoods at Mistik
Lake and the dream of flying fish. The characters in this engrossing
story live in or near Winnipeg, and some are the descendants of
Icelandic people who migrated to Canada in the mid nineteenth century.
Some of their strength and life values seep through to the new
generations.
Odella takes the role of her mother after she leaves and so is bound up
with the family, but meeting Jimmy makes her aware that she has a life
to lead as well. Living with him one summer at Mistik Lake brings the
story to a resolution as she learns of her past and why her mother was
so disturbed. An absorbing story redolent of the cold raw lives in
Canada's interior and suffused with the Icelandic heritage, Mistik
Lake
will absorb the attentions of older female readers, and its brevity
will be most attractive to those who want a thin book.
Fran Knight
Comment:
Mistik Lake won the Canadian Library Association Young
Adult Book of the Year. It is a totally engrossing book with
wonderful characters and the lakeside setting is beautiful. Highly
recommended.
Pat Pledger