mining

The Vanishing of Lake Peigneur: A Graphic Novel Based on a True Story by Allan Wolf – Book Recommendation

| Tasha

The Vanishing of Lake Peigneur: A Graphic Novel Based on a True Story by Allan Wolf, illustrated by Jose Pimienta

Publisher: Candlewick

Publication Date: Oct 7, 2025

Reviewed from library copy

ISBN: 9781536217438

This graphic work of nonfiction for middle schoolers is superb. It tells the story of Lake Peigneur in Louisiana from the lake’s point of view. The lake tells of the misfortune that happened there when an oil rig accidentally punctured the local salt mine’s tunnels. The result was incredibly dangerous for everyone in the area since the water from the lake drained into the salt mine, forming a water vortex that could swallow barges. Boats on the surface had to fight to get to shore and then contend with the lowering water levels. The shore eroded and trees were sucked down until suddenly a geyser erupted as air escaped the mine shafts. As the disaster unfolded, people stayed calm and followed their training, resulting in no one losing their life. 

A remarkable tale that creates a book that is fast moving and incredibly gripping. Few people know of the disaster outside of Louisiana since no one lost their life. It’s a look at nature’s response to a man-made issue and the power of water itself. Brilliantly told, the book sticks with the various people in danger, from the miners to the tug boat to the gardeners on shore. The use of the lake as the narrator is clever since there were so many human perspectives. 

A thrilling look at nature and disaster. Appropriate for ages 8-12.

Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz

| Tasha

Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz

Town Is by the Sea by Joanne Schwartz, illustrated by Sydney Smith (9781554988716, Amazon)

In a coal town in Cape Breton, Canada, a boy wakes up to a summer day. He wakes to the sound of the sea, spends some time with his friends. Still, his mind continues to think of his father mining for coat deep under the sea in the darkness. He runs errands for his mother and visits his grandfather’s grave which looks out over the sea. His grandfather too was a coal miner and the boy knows that it is his future as well.

Schwartz has created a book set in the 1950s in a coal town where families worked in the mines for generations. Even as the book shows a richness of a well-spent childhood, it is overshadowed by the presence of the coal mine in the boy’s life and how it impacted his family and his father in particular. She wisely works to contrast life above the ground with that below, showing a childhood of fresh breezes and sunlight that will turn into a life spent primarily in darkness.

Smith’s illustrations clearly depict the claustrophobia of the mines, filling the page with smothering darkness and only a couple of men in a tunnel. This contrasts with his illustrations of days spent near the sea, sometimes the sun nearly blinding as it shines off the water. There is a sense of the inevitable in the book, of life paths already formed.

A glimpse of Canadian history, this picture book will appeal to older readers. Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.