(3) PS Music arranged by Cheryl Eissing. Children will enjoy the sly humor and the chantable repetition of this twist on the classic cumulative folk song, "There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea." In Long's bold, full-spread illustrations in deep, mossy greens, a turtle and a little snail provide additional visual comedy. Sing-aloud musical notation and lyrics are appended.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Levi Pinfold. During their final visit to an abandoned Northumberland, England, settlement before a dam floods the valley, a young fiddler and her father make music inside the boarded-up houses. The narrative, based on a true story about real-life folk musicians Kathryn and Mike Tickell, is elegiac and melancholy; dark and moody pictures in shades of gray and sepia break into joy with a serene blue lake reflecting a light-filled sky.

Reviewer: Sarah Ellis | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(3) PS Illustrated by Eda Kaban. In this charming follow-up to Old MacDonald Had a Truck, the farm's mister and missus use an electric saw ("With a BUZZ BUZZ here and a BUZZ BUZZ there"), a hammer ("BANG BANG"), and more to spruce up an old boat and build a ramp for the book's grand finale. The art teems with farm animals, many of them unexpectedly handy--and dexterous on water skis.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. Fifth in Jeter's loosely autobiographical series about his childhood, this novel concentrates on his search for role models during the summer of his eleventh year. Derek's aspiration to be a good person and a great ballplayer would be overly cloying if we didn't know that's just what he grew up to be. The story's messages are padded with plenty of baseball action.

Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin

(4) YA After a tragic day on a lake--when Lark must choose between saving either Alec, the guy she likes, or Annabelle, an almost-five-year-old she knows--Lark's life splits in two. In one version, Alec is in a coma; in a parallel reality, Annabelle is the one hospitalized. The Sliding Doors premise, though occasionally difficult to follow, offers a unique perspective on grief and loss.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(1) PS Illustrated by Jason Chin. In this idyllic picture book, a boy and his family bike to a community picnic, bearing several pies. As Ledyard's text muses on the nature of sharing, Chin's detailed watercolor and gouache pictures take us through the Fourth of July celebration. The book ends poignantly, with Chin zeroing in on faces--a true diversity of races, genders, and ages--all sharing the same rapt expression watching fireworks.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jean Claverie. "Here I am, facing the rock." Every summer, the African American narrator's older brother jumps off a tall rock into the lake; this year, big brother says it's the narrator's turn. Nadon nails an older sibling's aura: intimidating ("He always made everything look so easy") and inspiring (the boy follows his brother's example). The art's sketch-like quality suits the narrator's shaky-giddy mood.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Sutton offers a vivid, detailed account of how and why the SS Eastland capsized on the Chicago River's bank in summer 1915. The cargo-turned-pleasure boat, carrying 2,500 (mainly immigrant) employees of Western Electric, sank before departing for a company picnic. In short, dynamic chapters enhanced with archival photographs, the straightforward text reflects on the disaster's obscurity relative to its contemporary, the Titanic. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) YA Kate expects to work behind the scenes of her school podcast--not to be chosen as a host. Meanwhile, someone is trying to sabotage her parents' marina on the lake she loves. Hosting the Advice Show helps Kate gain confidence, but as she falls for her best friend's crush, Kate also learns that giving advice is easier than following it. An appealing teen romance with a Sleepless in Seattle setup.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) 4-6 After her beloved grandfather dies, Libby and her daddy are the only ones left in the broken Lochewood family. But then Grampa's spirit starts visiting Libby, giving her clues to something hidden in the lake that will help restore depressed Daddy's sense of hope. Libby's boldness shines in this story of loss and recovery, as do Williams's descriptions of 1960s rural Florida.

Reviewer: Mariko Turk

(3) YA Conservation Success Stories series. Each in-depth volume examines conservation issues in a major habitat, focusing on topics such as deforestation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change, as well as scientific and legal efforts to restore and revitalize plant and animal populations. Full-page "Science Connection" inserts touch on related background science. Large photographs clearly show humans' impact on the environment. A cause-and-effect diagram is appended. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Conservation Success Stories titles: Bringing Back Our Freshwater Lakes, Bringing Back Our Oceans, Bringing Back Our Tropical Forests, Bringing Back Our Deserts, Bringing Back Our Wetlands, and Bringing Back Our Tundra.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) YA After the death of Trixie--Ben's sister and Lucy's best friend--the budding romance between the two fell apart, and they stopped speaking. Now, a year later, Ben and Lucy find themselves drawn to each other again, though grief, anger, and pain continue to complicate their relationship. Ben and Lucy have authentic chemistry in this character-driven and appropriately solemn romance, Biren's debut.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) 4-6 The summer Claire turns eleven, her widowed father has remarried, his wife is pregnant, and their lake house has been unceremoniously cleaned of her long-deceased mother's things. While thirteen-year-old sister Abi is preoccupied with first romance, Claire is rattled. Narratively connected poems from each girl's perspective--and, intermittently, from the lake itself--paint an intimate portrait of quiet family tumult.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2017

(3) 1-3 Illustrated by Églantine Ceulemans. In these offbeat British imports, Pug lives a very spoiled life with equally pampered Lady Miranda. In Captain, they attend a party on a lake, and (water-averse) Pug gets lost and must find his way back to Lady Miranda. The prissy pair's misadventure is on horseback in Cowboy. Color-accented illustrations with a vintage feel make the most of comedic moments. Review covers these titles: Captain Pug and Cowboy Pug.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) YA Ambitious Briggs Henry is spending the summer before college on Lake Michigan, working for an eccentric, elderly Serbian woman while living in her huge lakeside home. In between odd jobs and accompanying Mrs. B. to funerals, Briggs makes beach friends--including a sharp-witted girl with a chronic illness--and deals with his overbearing father. A warm and diverting coming-of-age story.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Phil. Early morning on an unidentified northern lake, the narrator and another camper (presumably a sibling) wake before the others and go out in their canoe; they listen "to the laughter of a loon," spot "a moose on long gangly legs," and ultimately land a trout for the "best breakfast ever." Scratchy acrylic paintings on wood are perfectly matched to the quiet, descriptive free verse.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(3) YA Teen detective Francie Frye (Enchantment Lake) returns for another whodunit in northern Minnesota, this one involving the murder of an archeologist--with Francie's brother Theo as the prime suspect. Meanwhile, a new school year unfolds for Brooklyn-transplant Francie; new friends (and some enemies), a lead in the school play, and surprising plot twists give this readable mystery a modern-day Nancy Drew feel.

Reviewer: Rita Soltan

(3) K-3 An Ojibwe woman and friends, concerned about human carelessness for Nibi (water), walk around the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence River, and more to bring attention to the problem. Illustrated with simple childlike art (the human faces have dots for eyes and no other features) and sprinkled with Ojibwe words, this eco-story is based on the life of Nokomis Josephine Mandamin, who formed the Mother Earth Water Walkers. Glos.

Reviewer: Bridget McCaffrey

(4) K-3 While canoeing on a lake, young Hattie befriends an underwater monster she names Hudson. When other boaters spot him, they panic, and later conspire to banish "the Deadly Beast," so Hattie and Hudson hatch a plan to prove his goodness. Van Dusen's shimmery gouaches command attention, but his plotting is somewhat routine and lengthy. Still, the message about being open-minded about differences is apt.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen. In 1861, thirty-seven-year-old Harriet Colfax began tending the Michigan City Lighthouse. Harriet's demanding, often dangerous work as one of the nation's few female lighthouse keepers for over forty years is recounted in the narrative and diary-entry sidebars. Finely rendered art with washes of color evokes her life and times. An author's note is included; unfortunately, sources are not. Glos.

Reviewer: Debora Pearson