The Properties of Water by Hannah Roberts McKinnon
Released October 26, 2010
For Lace, the lake she has grown up living on has been an integral part of her childhood and her life. All of the seasons of the lake, as well as the sounds and smells of it, are the background to her days. When her older sister, Marni, is injured jumping into the lake from a height, Lace is unable to return to her beloved lake or even to the city’s swimming pool. Lace works to continue having some order to her life, but her mother is hours away caring for her sister, her father is grieving himself, and her grandparents dart in and out of her summer. There is the new family care giver, Willa Dodge, but Lace sees her as an invader and perhaps even a thief. One happy part of her summer is that an older boy is paying attention to her. As Lace faces her first summer without her older sister, she begins to realize that everything has changed and she can do very little to repair any of it.
Written with a clear voice, this book has lustrous prose that makes Lace’s struggles come beautifully to life.
To show the author’s skill with words, I have to share one passage, though there were many to choose from:
He sinks on the bench beside me, and we sit, shoulder to shoulder, like two battered bookends holding up all the sadness in the world. This time I put my arm around him, and Cinder wedges under the bench beneath us, his black fur collecting our tears like gemstones.
This is a book about grief and the horrible time when grieving seems like the wrong thing to be doing, but forward motion is impossible too. It is the story of a loving, devoted family torn apart by an accident. It is Lace’s story and the lake’s story. It is about the power of nature, the horror of brain injury, and the healing powers of time and love (as well as a great dog).
This very short book by today’s standards is a small jewel. It is dazzling as it shows emotions so thoroughly that it is like readers are experiencing it themselves. Her prose is deep and radiant, but never leaves a young reader puzzling. Rather her images are taken straight from the world of the lake, of summer and of sadness.
Highly recommended, this book is a great choice for tweens who will understand everything that Lace is feeling. Appropriate for ages 11-13.
Reviewed from ARC received from Farrar Straus Giroux.
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