• Age: 11 to 14
• Grade: 6

A summer mystery, set on the shores of a Northern Ontario lake. Thirteen-year-old Leia Greenway can hardly believe her luck! First, her mother finally agreed to buy the old cottage on Lake Wasamak. And now, her brothers, Tim and Hugo, have come down with the chicken pox. Since neither of the boys can finish the school year, the entire family is getting a jump on the summer break! On theirfirst day at the cottage, Leia meets Cass Marlan-a spunky, outdoorsy, environmentally-conscious girl whose family has been summering at Wasamak for generations. Before long, the Greenways are embroiled in Cass's plan to save a piece of land-known locally as the old Indian village-from development. But it's no easy task. Not only do they need to prove that the Indian village actually existed, Leia, Cass, Tim, and Hugo must also fight against local business interests and some less-than-friendly characters, including a sullen boy who's staying at the biggest, fanciest cottage on the lake.

MAUREEN GARVIE is a former teacher, journalist and librarian who now works as an editor for McGill-Queen’s University Press. She grew up in Kingston, Ontario, and returned there after a long stint living and teaching in New Zealand. She is the author of three books for young readers, including George Johnson’s War, co-written with Mary Beatty (Groundwood, 2002), Lake Rules (Key Porter, 2005) and Amy by Any Other Name (Key Porter, 2009). Maureen now lives in Kingston on the shores of the St. Lawrence, in the same house where she grew up.

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Lake Rules

From the very first page the reader is drawn into the intrigue of this well-written novel. Leia, the thirteen-year-old narrator, has a “weird experience” when entering the family’s newly purchased, tumble-down old cottage by Lake Wasamak. As she looks through the window, she can see “paddles dipping, people laughing and eating, campfires burning.” When she and her brothers meet Cass, a bossy, environmentally conscious girl, they are drawn into her plan to save the lake from developers. Once they discover that on proposed land site once stood an ancient Algonkin village, they are determined to find enough artifacts so that the development cannot go ahead. Will they be able to prove the village existed, or will the developers find a way to stop them?

Garvie currently teaches at Queen’s University Writing Centre and is an editor for McGill-Queen’s University Press. She holds both teaching and library degrees.

Lake Rules

Four friends spend their summer trying to save a lost Indian village from development, and discover things aren’t as they seem. Who is that ghostly paddler? What’s really going on?