Our Lake

A tender and vulnerable exploration of love and loss that follows two boys as they take their first trip back to the lake without their father, from debut author-illustrator Angie Kang.

Today, Brother is taking me up to swim in the lake like Father used to.

I want to thank him for bringing us here, but I can’t find the words.
Instead, I loop my arms around his torso, and he does the same back.

Here, in our lake, the water holds us close.

On a sweltering hot day, a little boy mirrors his brother as he takes off his shirt, stretches, and walks toward the edge of the tall rock, ready to dive into the cool lake waters glistening below. Only this time, Father is not here. And the water looks so far away. How can he take the plunge?

With a gorgeous, deft touch in her exquisitely soft illustrations and words, Angie Kang conveys vulnerability, longing, and connection as these two boys hear Father’s laugh and see his memory all around them, uniting them in a bittersweet moment.

Angie Kang is a Chinese American illustrator and writer presently based in LA. Her work has appeared in Narrative, The Believer, The Rumpus, Ecotone, Catapult, and elsewhere, and she has received support from MacDowell, Tin House, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, VONA/Voices, SCBWI, and the Sundress Academy of Arts. More of her art and writing can be found at www.AngieKang.net or on Twitter and Instagram @anqiekanq.