An idyllic summer at the cottage in the 1950s, as revealed through the eyes of a boy on the cusp of adolescence: experiencing his first crush, discovering the joy of nature, and struggling to understand grown-ups. Every year, from the end of June to the end of August, Bruce and his family go to their cedar-clad cottage on the blue, wide lake. At first, this summer of 1954 seems like any other: floating in the row boat with Grace from next door, jumping off the diving raft, eating peach pie, exploring with Angus the dog, watching the seagulls, frogs and herons and catching crayfish.But just when he realizes life is perfect, everything starts to change. He's ten, the family dynamics are shifting, and over the summer both the harshness of the adult world and the patterns of the natural world reveal themselves. By the time the weather turns he will be a different child, and will have chosen his own path to understanding the wilderness that waits behind their wooden homes. Funny, subtle and true, Barefoot at the Lake transports us to a long, hot, poignant summer.