Patrick Gabridge

The Secret of Spirit Lake Patrick Gabridge

In The Secret of Spirit Lake, eleven-year-old Tyra is stuck spending the summer with her irascible Grandpa Rudy in a lakeside town where she's the only black person (she's adopted). Clearly this is going to be the worst summer ever. And a weird one, too. Every night, Rudy disappears into the woods, hauling tools and maps. He's searching for something, and Tyra desperately wants to know what it is.

One night, Tyra follows her grandfather and discovers him digging for an old bootlegger's buried treasure. He swears her to secrecy, but soon Tyra leads her new summer friend, Cory, to Grandpa Rudy's dig site. After being chased deep into the woods by an enraged Rudy, Tyra and Cory uncover clues that lead to Emerald Eddie's secret stash.

However, Grandpa Rudy isn't the only person in Spirit Lake obsessed with Emerald Eddie's legendary treasure, and it becomes a race to see who will find it first. Someone has been poking around the excavation and has even broken in to Rudy's house. Soon, Tyra, Rudy, and their friends find themselves in very real danger. Only a great sacrifice will allow them to escape unharmed.

The Secret of Spirit Lake is a fun summer adventure that touches on race, adoption, and intergenerational relationships. In addition to reaching a general middle grade readership, this book's exploration of race and transracial adoption will make it of great interest to the numerous multi-racial and adopted families eagerly searching for fiction with characters who share some of their experiences.