Loch »

Loch and his sister are with their father on a scientific expedition to track lake monsters. Their father's boss, Anthony Cavenger, a ruthless publishing mogul, is determined to prove that the legends are fact. Until now, it has been a fruitless exercise. But suddenly, on a routine exploration, a hideous water beast explodes out of the water, and a photographer, hoping to get the picture of a lifetime, loses his life instead. The plesiosaurs terrorize the secluded lake community, but Loch encounters a baby plesiosaur and realizes that the monsters only attack when threatened. So he risks his life-and the lives of his family and friends-to save the prehistoric creatures from destruction. 1995 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (ALA) 1995 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)

Children's Literature

Zindel knows how to capture a young man's life and thoughts to perfection. Loch is Loch Ness, but it's also Luke Perkins' nickname. When Luke was six, he had an encounter with a beast at Loch Ness, but no one believed him, and by now, ten years later, the whole episode seems like a piece of childish imagining. Since then, his sister Zaidee has been born, and his mother has died. And now the family is in Vermont, where his father has joined an expedition to search for wildlife in a mountain lake. There's a mild romance, Loch's relationship with his sister and the relationship of the two kids with their father are perfect, and the blood-and-guts (literally) search for monsters is just right. The intended audience is kids in grades 6-12, but sixth graders might never go swimming again and twelfth graders might think the romance too tame. But it's a good read.