At the Lake

At The Lake is a wonderful young adult, coming of age story.

It's Shane's first time working at the summer camp and Shane takes the younger William under his wing. He helps teach William to swim and make friends.

When an accident causes Shane to lose some of his hearing, the boys have some things to deal with, guilt, blame, and more. This part is well explored, interesting, and drives a lot of the story.

I enjoyed every bit of this young adult story. The two boys share their attraction to one another, but have to deal with the fact that Shane's a counselor, while William's a camper. Forbidden relationship for sure, as well as confusing.

The idea of feeling different is well crafted, written with nurturing and care. Their story is a sweet and tender coming of age story with a camp atmosphere that's impressively developed and becomes a character of it's own.

I love At The Lake. Geoff Laughton has created a compelling and honest coming of age story.

At The Lake is a very sweet and loving coming of age story.
Shane Martinelli is a 16-year-old lifeguard at Camp Huntington. Shane gets the lifeguard position because his father is a mechanic who works on the cars of one of the men on the camps board of directors. It’s while he works at summer camp that the fact, he likes boys, really comes into focus.
William Houghton is an almost 15-year-old first time camper. William gets sent to camp by his father who has to go to Switzerland on business. Williams’s mother and new husband live in Hawaii. As a product of a broken home William is very quiet and unsure of himself.
Shane and William first meet after Shane wins a race against another lifeguard who is a bully. William is so far in his shell that everyone thinks he is stuck up. Shane draws William out of his shell over a very late dinner, he discovers that William can’t swim. William is very embarrassed and thinks everyone will make fun of him because he can’t swim. For the next few weeks, three days a week Shane teaches William how to swim after everyone has left the lake. The more confident William becomes with swimming the friends he makes. Then one afternoon a storm is coming and William can’t be found. Shane finds him floundering in the lake. When he drags him out of the water there’s a great boom of thunder as lightning hits the dock right near them. Shane protects William but his own ears are damaged beyond repair.
The next year Shane is invited back to Camp Huntington and with a lot of soul searching he decides he has to face his demons. Luckily Williams’s father has stepped up and paid for the best treatment for his hearing loss. He’s not totally deaf, but almost. He has to wear state of the art hearing aids. Shane’s parents don’t want him to go back because of the accident but it’s a testament to them that he doesn’t give up! When William arrives back as a councillor in training their friendship gets deeper and more confusing for them. During the six weeks of camp the boys come to realise they love each other but more importantly they can rely on each other. Their relationship is cemented when Shane spends a week with William and his father after camp ends. They are both trying to work out how they are going to tell their parents they’re gay and still have their love and support.
The way the author has handled this particularly prickly topic is a credit to him. It is a beautiful story with all the ups and downs of teenage love and angst! I would definitely recommend this book for any parent/guardian who isn’t sure about their child/children.