Our Lake

Kang debuts with a deeply felt story about siblings returning to a cherished place— “Brother is taking me up to swim in the lake like Father used to.” In loosely painted, expressive gouache, crayon, and colored pencil spreads, two figures head up a slope amid deeply saturated blues, greens, and magentas. The duo prepare to swim in the bright sun: “Brother takes off his shirt. I take off my shirt. Brother stretches. I stretch.” After Brother dives easily off a rock into the water, the younger sibling freezes, the sequence capturing each beat of the child’s overwhelm (“How did I ever do this before?”). Then the image of a bearded man in a jaunty red hat appears (“On the inside of my eyelids, I see Father”). Next, Father’s reflection materializes in the water, and the child’s diving in offers a kind of reunion. Kang pictures the dreamlike moment the two meet, hands out- stretched (“He has my nose and my eyes”). Foregrounding the hard work of moving forward, this story about loss offers a vision of a place where “we are all together.” Characters are portrayed with dark hair and pale skin. Ages 4–8. Agent: Anjali Singh, Ayesha Pande Literary. (Mar.)