Facing Your Fears

The Girl in the Lake by India Hill Brown read by Bahni Turpin

Celeste has never overcome her fear of swimming. This twelve-year-old tried lessons but failed miserably. Now her phobia takes on mammoth proportions when she and her brother spend a week at her grandparents’ house. Their home features access to a lake!

In addition to Celeste's fear of the water, she soon discovers that her grandparents’ home is haunted. There is a flickering light in an empty room, an unseen hand touching her shoulder, a relative’s face appearing in the mirror, and unexplained shattering glass.
When Celeste sees a photograph of her great aunt, she is shocked to discover she looks just like her Great Aunt Ellie. She suspects that her aunt may be the ghost. When she asks her grandparents about her aunt, they say little to alleviate Celeste’s worries. Instead, they reassure their granddaughter that Ellie never did and never would never hurt anyone. ​

Listen to a sample of the audiobook.

Celeste is terrified. Her fear of swimming is now compounded by paranormal phenomena . This family vacation is becoming a nightmare. What does the spirit want? Why do her grandparents seem oblivious to is this other-worldly apparition? Celeste searches for answers and tries to protect herself and her family from this ghost.

With each eerie manifestation, Brown ratchets up the tension. Readers will emphasize with Celeste when she makes a panic-stricken call to her parents stating I want to go home. Now!

Caring adults come to the rescue, identifying individual fears and teaching youngsters lessons from history.

Eventually the children learn a reason for the fear of swimming. This dates to segregation practices in the United States when Blacks were not permitted to swim in "white's only" public swimming facilities. These policies prevented youngsters from learning to swim and exacerbated fear of swimming pools.

Turpin's narration, with individual voicing for each character brings the tale to life. She skillful reveals the progression of Celeste's mindset from uncertainty and puzzlement to a full-on panic attack in this audio performance.

The Girl in the Lake, a spine-tingling tale of facing fear and learning lessons from the past.

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Looking for more mysteries featuring ghosts from the past? Try these novels for middle grade readers.

Electronic copy accessed via Hoopla.

Release date: October 5, 2020  Publisher: Scholastic Audio.