Mistik Lake, by Martha Brooks

Secrets in her mother’s past affect Odella more than she knows.

In 1981, three teenagers died while joyriding on frozen Mistik Lake in Manitoba; the only survivor was Sally, Odella’s mother. This novel follows Odella’s life from the time she is 9 until her 18th birthday and alternates in the telling between Odella, her great aunt Gloria and later Odella’s boyfriend, Jimmy. When Odella is 15, her mother leaves them and the devastated family struggles to function without her. During the summer when Odella turns 18, she gets a job at the local grocer’s in Mistik Lake so she can be near Jimmy. It is during this time that all of the incidents from the past, and the secrets that were kept, finally come to light. This reads like an adult novel and is sure to be a favourite among high school girls. Grades 9-12. [Mature episodes]