Lolo Weaver Swims Upstream

During a hot summer in which the local lake has been drained for dam repair, keeping needed tourists away, nearly 12-year-old Lolo Weaver is stuck in summer school after failing a state test. Not only does it not feel like summer vacation, Lolo quickly gets on the wrong side of stickler teacher Mrs. Cryer. But much worse is Lolo’s profound sadness following the recent death of her beloved grandfather and the subsequent rehoming of Hank, a foster dog with whom Lolo identifies (they’re “mostly normal, except when we weren’t, and when we weren’t it was a big problem,” Lolo says). When her pregnant mother is hospitalized with preeclampsia and Lolo is sent to stay with her grieving grandmother, the tween becomes convinced that returning Hank would offer emotional support to Gram. Discovering that Hank is now being fostered by Noah Pham, a summer school classmate whose journal entries are part of the story, Lolo persuades Noah to give up Hank. As the pair work to get the dog across the drained lake and back to Lolo’s grandmother, a series of events transform Lolo’s assumptions—about herself, Hank, and her grandma—and help her begin to heal. Quick-resolving plot threads make the ending feel slightly rushed, but an aptly rendered ghost-town vibe from Farquhar (Itch), coupled with Lolo’s frustrations, contribute to a feeling of summer languor, and Lolo’s realizations are organic and moving. Lolo presents as white; context cues suggest racial diversity in the community. Ages 8–12. Agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Birch Path Literary. (Apr.)