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Blackwater
Kristin Ekman                                  
15 copies

After moving to the remote town of Blackwater in northern Sweden to join her lover, Annie Raft stumbles upon a brutal double murder that remains unsolved for twenty years, until the day she sees her grown daughter in the arms of the man Annie saw leavingthe scene of the crime

Publishers Weekly

Bunting (I Have an Olive Tree; Smoky Night) crafts an ethics-centered novel that will long flicker in readers' memories. Brodie's plans to go camping with his best friend on the nearby banks of the furious Blackwater River are foiled when his younger cousin, Alex, comes to spend the summer. To top it off, Alex also wrecks 13-year-old Brodie's highly anticipated plans to take his classmate and crush, Pauline, to the movies. One morning, Brodie decides to teach Alex how to swim in a protected area of the Blackwater, and the two spy Pauline cozying up to an older boy on a rock in the middle of the river. Bunting's cunning description of the tragic incident that follows leaves just enough room for readers' to interpret the events. Should Brodie be elevated to hero status, shunned as a villain, or somewhere in between? And Alex, with his proclivity for fibbing, devises a cover-up that further obscures the truth. But it soon becomes evident that someone else witnessed what happened in the Blackwater River. Smoothly shifting between dialogue and his inner thoughts, Brodie's affecting, first-person narrative makes the boy's nightmarish struggle with his conscience chillingly credible. Bunting's thought-provoking theme, solid characterization and skillful juggling of suspense and pathos make this a top-notch choice for both boys and girls. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature

Brodie Lynch, a thirteen-year-old preacher's son, begins his summer by playing a practical joke on the girl of his dreams and her boyfriend. The results are so tragic that he succumbs to his disliked cousin Alex's interpretation of them to the police--a lie that makes Brodie a hero. Now Brodie must live with his lie that destroys the reputation of another. He's torn between Alex--the devil's advocate--his upbringing, and the Batgirl Hannah's sound advice. Bunting's moralistic novella is terse and to the point, though her picture of the inter-relationships in a small town is nicely drawn.