The Gem Lakes

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Abbotsford, B.C.

Keough’s debut novel presents 14-year-old Jake Lucknow whose
“typical teenage life” has turned “completely upside down”
because he has an inoperable brain tumour. Spending the summer at the
family’s Lampshine Lake cabin, Jake encounters the lake’s hermit,
who reveals that Jake’s grandfather, long believed dead, actually
lives in the mysterious Gem Lakes area. Armed with a map, Jake coerces
his sister to accompany him, lies to their parents, and sets out on a
quest to find his grandfather.

The terrain the teens traverse, which in 1924 was seriously affected
by the Earth’s magnetic field reversal, is populated by deformed
plants and dangerous animals, among them gigantic attacking mallards,
immense moose, fierce bears, an “outrageously huge turtle,” oversize
timber wolves, large charging skunks, and a panther-like joaquin that
Jake and Claire battle. When they successfully reach the other side, the
siblings discover that their grandfather is dead. Another thing they
discover is that Jake’s cancer symptoms subsided on the journey. Like
his grandfather before him, Jake must remain in the area to live
cancer-free.

Aimed at young male readers, the novel presents a jumble of genres:
problem-solving, wilderness adventure, fantasy/sci-fi. Keough even
scatters segments of Canadian history throughout the pair’s reckless
excursion and battles with bizarre creatures. Tightening the plot and
correcting the grammatical errors that interrupt the narrative rhythm
would have improved the book’s overall quality. Recommended with
reservations.