Kevin Delecki

Things aren’t real unless you can prove them—that’s what 12-year-old Addie thinks. At least, that’s what she thought until she reads the notebook that belonged to her twin brother, Amos. It’s filled with clues about the mysterious creature living in Maple Lake, where Amos drowned the winter before. In The Light in the Lake, the debut novel from Sarah R. Baughman, Addie is drawn back to the lake to discover its secrets and more about herself as well.

Addie and Amos spent much of their time at the lake—swimming, boating and fishing. But when Amos goes out on the lake too late in the winter, he falls through the ice and drowns before anyone can rescue him. Now, Addie’s parents want her to stay as far away from the lake as possible. However, when Addie is offered the chance to be a Young Scientist for the summer, researching the effects of pollution on Maple Lake, she can’t resist. Each day she spends at the lake, she learns more about the water, the mysterious creature her brother was investigating and who she really is.

Haunting, memorable and full of mystery, The Light in the Lake is a brilliant combination of beautiful, lyrical prose and a compelling, exciting story. Baughman has created complex characters with real, deep emotions and a picturesque setting that will make readers feel as if they are at Maple Lake with Addie.

A lot can happen in 24 hours—unless you live in Nowhere, Arizona, the least-livable town in the United States, where nothing ever happens. However, the town’s reputation changes one summer evening when young Gus is rescued by Rossi Scott, just as the bully Bo Taylor is about to make him eat a jumping cholla—a very spiny cactus. In Dusti Bowling’s 24 Hours in Nowhere, this one small act sets off a chain reaction of events that will keep Gus, Rossi and Bo very busy—at least for the next 24 hours.

Rossi was able to rescue Gus, but he pulled it off at the expense of Loretta, her prized dirt bike. Resolute, Gus confronts Bo and learns that to get Loretta back, he’ll have to trade one piece of gold from Dead Frenchman’s Mine. Gus is determined to find the gold and get Rossi’s bike back before her big race the next day, and so he gathers up some new friends, and the four venture into the mine. What they find there is more than they ever could have imagined.

24 Hours in Nowhere is fast-paced and filled with adventure, excitement and humor. Each character contributes to the main plot while also carrying a story of their own. This is a perfect pick for young readers who love a well-developed story with twists and turns all the way to the very end.

This article was originally published in the September 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Marty is the perfect dog—he’s loyal, smart, learns tricks, and everyone seems to love him. Unfortunately, Marty happens to be a 350-pound pig. In Saving Marty by Paul Griffin, 11-year-old Lorenzo Ventura has to figure out how to convince him mom to let him keep Marty, whom he has raised since he was the runt of the litter, while Marty keeps making things more difficult by chewing through fences and running over mailboxes.

Life isn’t particularly easy for Lorenzo, his mom and his grandfather, Double Pop (or just Double, as Lorenzo calls him). Their peach farm is failing, Double’s knee needs to be replaced, and money seems to get tighter each month. Lorenzo is also struggling to accept that his best friend, Paloma, is getting the opportunity to live out their dream at a summer camp for musicians, and he’s dealing with difficult truths about his father, who died just a week before Lorenzo was born. Then there are the Taylor boys, who think that Marty would make particularly good ham steaks.

Saving Marty quickly goes beyond a light story about a boy and his pig. It’s filled with friendship, loss, understanding, acceptance and what it means to be a family, and readers will find themselves caught up in the melodic words of this story. Renzo and Pal, Marty, Mom and Double draw readers into their stories, their lives, their songs. And in the end, maybe Marty isn’t the one who needs to be saved, but instead might do the saving.

BookPage Children’s Top Pick, July 2017

Toys. Books. Friends. Television. Fidget spinners. If you had to make a list of 10 amazing things about Earth in order to keep it from being destroyed, what would you pick? In Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Millions), this is exactly the situation Prez finds himself in after Sputnik, a strange little boy (or is he a dog?), rings the doorbell that isn’t there and invites himself into Prez’s world.

After his granddad gets into “a wee spot of bother,” Prez is taken to Children’s Temporary Accommodation (an orphanage) and then placed with the Blythe family on their farm. As talkative as Prez is silent, the Blythe family provides a good, if not peaceful, place for Prez to live. But everything is turned upside down when Sputnik enters their lives. Sputnik appears as a dog to everyone but Prez, and he telepathically “tells” Prez that he is an alien from another planet and is on Earth to keep it from being destroyed. Most importantly, he needs Prez’s help to go out into the world and discover the 10 things that will stop the destruction. Thus begins Prez’s most eventful summer ever.

Wrapped in humor and absurdity, Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth deftly examines a number of issues, including dementia, foster care and how to see the beauty in common, everyday things. While not a simple, straightforward book, readers who take the time to explore Earth with Prez, Sputnik and Granddad will be rewarded with joy, laughter and the knowledge that it might actually be possible to find your own place in the universe.

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.