Love, loss, and ghosts are featured in this picture book for older readers.When a dam is built, the ensuing lake floods the village of Spetzia, whose residents have moved to new homes they were given in the big town below the dam. Jacob and his father, Reuben, however, stay. Their cottage, formerly on the hillside, is now on the lakeshore, and Reuben won't leave Jacob's mother, who is buried in the flooded village's cemetery. The lake is considered haunted, but Reuben and Jacob fish it for their living, selling their catch at the market. When Jacob meets young Ellen, they fall in love and make plans to marry. But one fateful evening, Jacob goes fishing and fails to return. As Ellen mourns Jacob, she stays at Reuben's cottage and helps out, unwilling to leave Jacob behind. Then one day, she sees a face under the frozen lake. This comfortably eerie ghost/undying-love story is unvarnished and competently told, but the illustrations make it sublime. Created with watercolor and gouache-a choice that embraces the story's watery setting-each illustration, whether single-page, quarter-page, or double-page spread, exhibits a distinctive perspective, an expert palette of warm and cool colors, and skilled draftsmanship to create both ambiance and movement. The book's large format allows readers to luxuriate in the gorgeous illustrations. All characters are illustrated as White.Satisfying and visually superb. (Picture book. 8-12)

With atmospheric spreads and suitably eerie prose, Lynch (Patrick and the President) spins a long-winded yarn about a drowned village. Only the village-s church tower is visible above the water of the reservoir, and Reuben and his son, Jacob, fish there despite warnings: -There are ghosts in that lake. The bell in the tower rings whenever another poor soul is going to join them.- A young neighbor, Ellen, dotes on Jacob and vows to marry him. One night, he goes out alone and is lured inside the tower, and a bewitching woman named Lilith takes him into the town, reuniting him with his dead mother. Years pass in the world above until, as the evil Lilith is about to trap Jacob into marriage, Ellen pulls off a daring rescue. Lynch toggles between suspense and calm as he underlines Ellen-s faithfulness and grit (-Part of her wanted to sail away as fast as she could, but she stayed-). Though the text is lengthy and sometimes flat, it offers a potent escapist fantasy, especially Lilith-s underwater world, which radiates goth allure as fish swim through the bedroom, curtains billow, and a green fire burns magically in the grate. Ages 7-10. (Sept.)