- cousin friends discover a hidden lake and its reclusive residents
- multi-generational friendships and general summer fun
- convo: ghosts and witches occasionally speculated about (there were none), alcoholic drinks mentioned, “prehistoric” days mentioned, some lying, zodiac signs mentioned, pipe smoking
- language: holy cat x4, gosh x4, heck x9, gee x5, by jove x3, by Jupiter x4, doggonit, what the deuce x2, darnation, mild name calling (dumb, chicken)
Type: chapter book
Ages: 7-10
Author: Elizabeth Enright
When two siblings go to stay with their cousins for the summer, the oldest of each family go exploring together. They ultimately befriend two elderly people living in the hidden-away place next to what used to be a lake (hence the gone-away name) and is now a swampy bog. The old man and his sister tell many stories of days gone by, and the children love to hear them.
One of the more intense scenes (though I wouldn’t even call it intense) is when a younger brother tries to follow the older kids and gets stuck in the swamp temporarily. Overall, it is a pretty mild story that might make a decent audiobook on a road trip if you’re okay with the above conversation points. My favorite component of the book was probably the nature descriptions. Enright did a fine job helping us envision the scenes.