HELLO FROM RENN LAKE

A 12-year-old girl has a special connection to the lake that saved her life when she was an infant.

As a baby, Annalise mysteriously appeared one day in a bassinet placed secretly behind Alden’s store. Nearby Renn Lake noticed and helpfully surged up to attract the attention of Mrs. Alden, who found the abandoned child. Eventually Annalise was adopted by a younger childless couple who also owned and operated summer cabins on that same Wisconsin lake. By the age of 3, Annalise begins to hear and understand Renn in a way that no one else does. As a result, when toxic algae threaten the future of the lake and the livelihoods of all who depend on it, Annalise and her friend Zach spring into action with an ingenious plant-based solution. Meanwhile, Annalise eventually learns more about her personal history and integrates her “found day” narrative into her life. The story is told in both Annalise’s and Renn’s voices, in alternating chapters, until midway through, when Renn’s ill health leads to silence. Eventually Renn’s cousin Tru, the river that feeds the lake, takes up where Renn leaves off; the inclusion of both bodies of water as narrators adds fuller dimension to the story and emphasizes the importance of the environment to our lives. Human characters present as white. An author’s note provides further information on lake ecosystems and algal blooms.

An earnest and disarming tale of human and environmental caring.