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Mistik Lake
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Mistik Lake (2007) (edit title/settings)

by Martha Brooks (Author) (edit contributors)

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Seventeen-year-old Odella is haunted by family secrets. Why doesn’t her great-aunt Gloria visit anymore? Why does her mother, Sally, drink so much? Sally’s tragic car accident on a frozen lake when she was sixteen seems to have cast a spell over her life that no one can break. Odella tries to... read more

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From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up—In a prologue, readers learn that in 1981, three teenagers died while joyriding on frozen Mistik Lake in Manitoba. Sally was the sole survivor. The story then alternates between Odella, Sally's oldest daughter, beginning when she is nine; Sally's Aunt... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up—In a prologue, readers learn that in 1981, three teenagers died while joyriding on frozen Mistik Lake in Manitoba. Sally was the sole survivor. The story then alternates between Odella, Sally's oldest daughter, beginning when she is nine; Sally's Aunt Gloria, Odella's beloved great-aunt; and, later, Odella's boyfriend, Jimmy. Summers are spent at Mistik Lake, where Gloria has a cottage that she never uses. There, Odella, a perceptive girl, becomes attuned to her mother's sadness and alcoholism. Sally leaves her husband and daughters for an Icelandic filmmaker when Odella is 15, and the devastated family struggles to function without her. However, they continue to vacation at the lake, where Odella meets Jimmy, leading to a romance that helps sustain her in the aftermath of her mother's sudden death. Much of the mood is pensive as characters suffer but eventually break through. Gloria, whose homosexuality has been kept a secret, eventually brings her partner to meet Sally's girls; and Odella starts to forgive her mother and begin an adult life. Jumps back and forth in time and perspective make reading somewhat bewildering at times, but they do allow more intimate characterization. Smooth writing contributes much to a story that will enable readers to care about Odella's coming of age. Readers seeking a love story situated in family difficulties will find a realistic choice here.—Suzanne Gordon, Peachtree Ridge High School, Suwanee, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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First Sentence edit see section history

On a stone-cold night in 1981 a carload of teenagers went joyriding out on frozen Mistik Lake.

Table of Contents edit see section history

I. Prologue
II. Part One: Winter
1. Pieces of family life/Odella
2. A secret life/Gloria
3. Where we go from here/Odella
4. The problem of love/Gloria
5. From bad to worse/Odella
6. Jimmy, again/Odella
7. Sunday afternoon/Jimmy
III. Part two: Spring
1. Family secrets/Odella
2. An unexpected turn of events/Jimmy
3. A package from Iceland/Odella
4. Dazzled again/Jimmy
5. A seemingly ordinary man/Odella
6. Stars/Jimmy
7. Falling/Odella
IV. Part three: Summer
1. Dealing with Daniel/Gloria
2. Betwixt and between/Odella
3. Life beyond high school/Jimmy
4. Getting to know Mr. Isfeld/ Odella
5. The truth revealed/Odella
6. Dealing with Gerald/Gloria
7. Aftermath/Odella
8. A birthday/Jimmy
9. A final gift from Iceland/Odella

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Martha Brooks (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Groundwood Books
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 0888997523
Page Count: 206

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