Anna can see that her grand-niece Minnow's first summer on Birch Lake doesn't start out well. Minnow wonders why her mother has sent her to spend her vacation with her grandmother and her great aunt and uncle. Especially when her mother has never returned to the cabin since leaving it as a young woman. But the summer turns beautiful as Minnow comes to realize that the cabin is her home in the truest sense, and that the “geriatrics,? her elderly relatives, are her closest friends. Minnow discovers three goals for the summer: to swim across the lake to Picnic Island, as her mother did every summer when she was a girl; to get Anna, who has been mute for decades, to speak; and, finally, to bring together her long estranged mother and grandmother. Elaine Medline's first novel, That Silent Summer is destined to become a cherished favourite. Friendships are forged in the magical setting, as even it has to adapt to time and change along with the characters. Through Anna's eyes, we trace the progress of Minnow from unhappiness to compassion, as we spend that poignant, lovely — and sometimes silent — summer on Birch Lake.

Elaine Medline's profile page

• Commended, Canadian Children's Book Centre, Our Choice - Starred Selection

Elaine is a former journalist who studied medicine before deciding on a writing career. Elaine enjoys skating and swimming the Great Lakes and has traveled through Europe, Israel, Egypt and Costa Rica. She resides near Ottawa, Ontario. This is her first book.

"The pacing of That Silent Summer is exactly like that of a summer holiday, relaxing and laid back. Recommended." (CM Magazine)