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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2008, 192 pages
Paperback:
Mar 2010, 192 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Jo Perry
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When two boys come to spend the summer at Bird Lake, each is reeling from his own personal tragedy. Both boys arrive scarred and fragile, but as they become friends, the sharp edges of their lives smooth out and, slowly, they are able to start to heal.
Spencer thought the house might be haunted.
Mitch knew it wasn't. And he knew why.
The whole time Spencer and Mitch hung out together at Bird Lake that summer, there were secrets keeping them apart.
And maybe a secret knowledge keeping them together, too—together like members of the same tribe. Like friends.
Author Note
Dear Reader,
Olive’s Ocean, my last novel, was published in 2003.
Since then I’ve written and illustrated three picture books and two board books.
All the while I was working on those books, I was thinking about Bird Lake Moon.
In fact, my first notes for Bird Lake Moon are dated June 2003.
My new book revolves around two boys: Spencer Stone and Mitch Sinclair. It was
Spencer and his family who came to me first. It’s interesting to me now that
Mitch wasn’t part of the story when I began. But once he appeared in my thoughts
and on the page, he became increasingly important. In its final form, the book
starts with his story.
The creative process is difficult to understand, much less explain. I do
know that bits and pieces of my life and of my family’s life are embedded in
Bird Lake Moon, as they are in all my books. And, like a person, a book
grows, lives, moves forward in its own way.
After being a huge part of me for years, Bird Lake Moon is ready to find
its readers. It’s bittersweet to let a book go, but I’m already thinking of
other ones. . . .
Best wishes,
Kevin Henkes
Chapter One
Mitch
Mitch Sinclair was slowly taking over the house, staking his claim. He had just
finished carving his initials into the underside of the wooden porch railing,
which was his boldest move so far. The other things he had done had required
much less courage. He had swept the front stoop with his grandmother's broom. He
had cleaned the decaying leaves and the puddle of murky water out of the
birdbath in the side yard and filled it with fresh water. He had spat on the huge rotting tree stump at the corner of the lot each day for the past week, marking the territory as his. And he had taken to crawling under the screened back porch during the hot afternoons; he'd lean against the brick foundation in the cool shade, imagining a different life, if, as his mother had said, their old life was over. Forever.
Although he'd seen the house many times while visiting his grandparents, Mitch
had never paid much attention to it before. The house was vacant....
With sure, crystalline prose, Henkes discloses the breathless suspense that even the shortest moment can contain, and the enormous courage that loss demands. Young readers who plunge into these extraordinary interlocking stories will discover mysterious, sad, and hopeful things about themselves and the people they love...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Jo Perry).
In Bird Lake Moon, the tragic drowning of Spencer's four-year-old
brother haunts his family during their return visit to Bird Lake. As we approach
the summer months, it is wise to ponder the following tragic statistics
presented by the
Orange County Fire Authority:
"Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths to
children ages 14 and under. A temporary lapse in supervision is a common factor
in most drownings and near-drownings. Child drownings can happen in a matter of seconds - in the time it takes to answer the phone. There is often no splashing
to warn of trouble... "
Even more sobering are the following facts about how and when drownings occur:
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