Kyle's Island (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Kyle's Island Deborah Stevenson Derby, Sally. Kyle's Island. Charlesbridge, 2010 [192p]. ISBN 978-1-58089-316-9 $16.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 4-7 The lake cabin in Michigan has always been where Kyle's family comes together, and thirteen-year-old Kyle considers summer there even more important now that his grandmother has died and his father has left. This summer brings some new directions as Kyle becomes the fishing companion of a neighbor, Mr. Butler, and begins to understand his little brother's need for attention and inclusion, but a pall is cast over the vacation when he realizes that his mother plans to sell this place that more than anywhere provides Kyle with his sense of home. Debut novelist Derby writes a quiet, solid, and benevolently old-fashioned story, skillfully balancing the explicit demands and strains of the situation with some implicit working through of issues by narrator Kyle. She wisely avoids a too-easy conclusion that allows the family to keep the lake house; instead, Kyle retains access to the kind of summers he loves while accepting the changes to his family and their plans. The rustic details of a pre-Internet (the book is set in the 1970s) lakeside summer, with a lot of fishing, a fair amount of freedom, and no indoor plumbing, will appeal to outdoorsy readers and may make converts of those unacquainted with such bucolic delights. Most kids are familiar with summer's tendency to offer the possibility of change as well as diversion, and they'll sympathize with Kyle as he rises to meet his challenges. Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois