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The Door in the Lake
After vanishing without a trace one night during a camping trip, twelve-year-old Joey reappears two years later, showing no signs of having aged and carrying memories of a strange light in the sky. Reprint.
96 pages, Paperback
First published May 5, 1994
11 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Nancy Butts
5 books16 followersNancy Butts has had her head stuck in a book ever since she learned to read--and she's been writing stories for just as long.
She published her first poem at age ten, and decided after reading Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" in fifth grade that she wanted to be a writer, too. But she never thought she was good enough, so by the sixth grade she decided to be an astronomer instead: and after that a lawyer, Congresswoman, spy, and finally a doctor. And if she hadn't gone to Duke University, where she learned that in order to be premed she had to hang out in chemistry lectures with 500 other students, she might be a doctor today. Instead, she took a seminar in Zen Buddhism and decided that spending all her time talking about big ideas in small classes with bearded professors was what college was supposed to be about. She switched her major to religion--with a minor in Russian of all things--happily haunted the stacks of the college library for four years, and when she graduated, had absolutely zero idea what she wanted to do with her life.
So she sat down, read all 88 Agatha Christie mystery novels in two months, took a job in a lab, got married, moved to Georgia, and spent the next six years thinking that she really should have applied to medical school after all. Then she tried PA school instead, had an early mid-life crisis, and when someone asked her what she saw herself doing in ten years, she suddenly remembered what she had known back in fifth grade: she wanted to write.
She quit school, and within a few months she had landed a job as a reporter at a small-town newspaper. She spent the next eleven years working there, writing several stories each week and winning awards. But once her son was born she secretly started to write her first children's book--the story that ultimately became her debut novel, "Cheshire Moon,” which won the respect of members of the deaf community for its portrayal of a young deaf girl who will communicate only in Sign. This book was soon followed by the science fiction novel "The Door in the Lake," was an ALA Quick Pick and a Scholastic Book Club selection.
Since then Nancy spends much of her time working as a creative writing teacher and manuscript editor. Some of the people whose books she's had the privilege of shepherding into the world are Monica Roe, author of the YA novel "Thaw"; Alberto Hazan, author of the YA fantasy series "The League of Freaks"; and Jennifer Lundquist, author of the middle grade novel, "Seeing Cinderella." Nancy has also published several books for the direct-to-school education market, and is the editor of a how-to book on revision entitled "Write it Right!" by the author Sandra Asher.
Then in April 2013 she published her first book for adults: "Spontaneous Combustion: A Writer's Primer for Creative Revival." This book was inspired by the writer's malaise often suffered by her students and clients: and by her own efforts to write her way out of creative drought.
Somewhere during these years she also managed to land a spot as a contestant on the TV game show "Jeopardy" and was a one-day champion.
But writing fiction for kids continues to be her passion, and she is working hard on another middle grade novel set in a sleepy Southern town much like the one where she lives: only with more ghosts.
There is just one ghost in the 130-year-old Victorian cottage where Nancy lives and works: one humming ghost, and far too few electric outlets for the Mac laptops which are her auxiliary brain. When she's not teaching, editing, or trying to carve out time for her own writing, Nancy is an avid walker; and she also likes to grow herbs, make quilts, knit miles and miles of scarves, play the mountain dulcimer and Finnish kantele, be the Mac tech support person for everyone she knows, and tend to her slightly neurotic Newfoundland dog, Yukon.
She published her first poem at age ten, and decided after reading Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" in fifth grade that she wanted to be a writer, too. But she never thought she was good enough, so by the sixth grade she decided to be an astronomer instead: and after that a lawyer, Congresswoman, spy, and finally a doctor. And if she hadn't gone to Duke University, where she learned that in order to be premed she had to hang out in chemistry lectures with 500 other students, she might be a doctor today. Instead, she took a seminar in Zen Buddhism and decided that spending all her time talking about big ideas in small classes with bearded professors was what college was supposed to be about. She switched her major to religion--with a minor in Russian of all things--happily haunted the stacks of the college library for four years, and when she graduated, had absolutely zero idea what she wanted to do with her life.
So she sat down, read all 88 Agatha Christie mystery novels in two months, took a job in a lab, got married, moved to Georgia, and spent the next six years thinking that she really should have applied to medical school after all. Then she tried PA school instead, had an early mid-life crisis, and when someone asked her what she saw herself doing in ten years, she suddenly remembered what she had known back in fifth grade: she wanted to write.
She quit school, and within a few months she had landed a job as a reporter at a small-town newspaper. She spent the next eleven years working there, writing several stories each week and winning awards. But once her son was born she secretly started to write her first children's book--the story that ultimately became her debut novel, "Cheshire Moon,” which won the respect of members of the deaf community for its portrayal of a young deaf girl who will communicate only in Sign. This book was soon followed by the science fiction novel "The Door in the Lake," was an ALA Quick Pick and a Scholastic Book Club selection.
Since then Nancy spends much of her time working as a creative writing teacher and manuscript editor. Some of the people whose books she's had the privilege of shepherding into the world are Monica Roe, author of the YA novel "Thaw"; Alberto Hazan, author of the YA fantasy series "The League of Freaks"; and Jennifer Lundquist, author of the middle grade novel, "Seeing Cinderella." Nancy has also published several books for the direct-to-school education market, and is the editor of a how-to book on revision entitled "Write it Right!" by the author Sandra Asher.
Then in April 2013 she published her first book for adults: "Spontaneous Combustion: A Writer's Primer for Creative Revival." This book was inspired by the writer's malaise often suffered by her students and clients: and by her own efforts to write her way out of creative drought.
Somewhere during these years she also managed to land a spot as a contestant on the TV game show "Jeopardy" and was a one-day champion.
But writing fiction for kids continues to be her passion, and she is working hard on another middle grade novel set in a sleepy Southern town much like the one where she lives: only with more ghosts.
There is just one ghost in the 130-year-old Victorian cottage where Nancy lives and works: one humming ghost, and far too few electric outlets for the Mac laptops which are her auxiliary brain. When she's not teaching, editing, or trying to carve out time for her own writing, Nancy is an avid walker; and she also likes to grow herbs, make quilts, knit miles and miles of scarves, play the mountain dulcimer and Finnish kantele, be the Mac tech support person for everyone she knows, and tend to her slightly neurotic Newfoundland dog, Yukon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 18, 2013
i love this book it is going soo good but yet its kind of creepy at the same tim i'm only on chapter nine and i'm very excited to see what is going to happen next.the book has such good vocabulary it also helps me with my writing in school.
November 24, 2012
I'm not usually one for alien abduction stories, but when I read the last sentence on the front flap of the dust jacket ("The Door in the Lake examines that area of the human psyche where the body and mind meet—or don't—and where identity resides."), I thought "Well, if it delivers on that promise, this short book will certainly be worth the time it takes to read it!" While the sentence may be a bit of an overstatement for what Nancy Butts achieves, I definitely wasn't disappointed.
Alien abduction often evokes images of quasi-religious fanaticism, but there is happily none of that in The Door in the Lake. Instead, we have an account of a confused boy trying to make sense of and deal with the consequences of two years missing from his life. Are the images and sounds in his head seizure-induced hallucinations, lost memories, or messages? How can he cope with a younger brother now older than he and the rejection of his once-best friend?
Nancy Butts successfully builds page-turning suspense and mystery in this psychological account from the perspective of disbelieving abductee.
Alien abduction often evokes images of quasi-religious fanaticism, but there is happily none of that in The Door in the Lake. Instead, we have an account of a confused boy trying to make sense of and deal with the consequences of two years missing from his life. Are the images and sounds in his head seizure-induced hallucinations, lost memories, or messages? How can he cope with a younger brother now older than he and the rejection of his once-best friend?
Nancy Butts successfully builds page-turning suspense and mystery in this psychological account from the perspective of disbelieving abductee.
October 30, 2013
This is a short, entertaining sci-fi story for middle grade readers. The story is engaging and I think that children will be able to relate to Joey's difficulties readjusting after his disappearance.
Our oldest brought this book home from her 5th grade class and we both read it independently. While I wasn't overwhelmed by the characters in the story and felt that some of the interaction was a bit too over-dramatized, I still thought it was a good story.
Our oldest brought this book home from her 5th grade class and we both read it independently. While I wasn't overwhelmed by the characters in the story and felt that some of the interaction was a bit too over-dramatized, I still thought it was a good story.
December 16, 2009
5th-8th Grade
In this story Joey Finney disappears at age twelve and reappears two years later yet he has not aged. He has come back to his life like he had never left but the world has changed around him. What is great about this book is how all of the relationships around this story play out. His younger brother is now bigger than him and his best friend cannot seem to adapt to him being home. The author keeps you guessing till the end was he in a time vortex, abducted by aliens? Students will enjoy the way the story is told, it is scary in parts so it definitely is for more mature students.
Language arts/science- Have the students come up with alternate endings for this story. What would have happen to Joey if he was not able to return to that night when he disappeared? What ways could students explain where he had been.
In this story Joey Finney disappears at age twelve and reappears two years later yet he has not aged. He has come back to his life like he had never left but the world has changed around him. What is great about this book is how all of the relationships around this story play out. His younger brother is now bigger than him and his best friend cannot seem to adapt to him being home. The author keeps you guessing till the end was he in a time vortex, abducted by aliens? Students will enjoy the way the story is told, it is scary in parts so it definitely is for more mature students.
Language arts/science- Have the students come up with alternate endings for this story. What would have happen to Joey if he was not able to return to that night when he disappeared? What ways could students explain where he had been.
February 18, 2010
It's a classic sci-fi set up: Joey wakes up in the hospital and can't understand why everyone looks so old. They can't understand how he could have been missing for years and hasn't aged a day. The only thing more frightening than not knowing what happened at the lake those years ago is finding out the truth.
September 18, 2013
i love this book it makes me very excited to read
November 2, 2025
I read this book whilst researching material for a 10 year old primary school student. She and I are now reading 'The Door in the Lake' together, and it is an excellent first book for her. The characters are easy to understand and their actions make sense in the full light of each scenario. A well thought out and executed work of young adult fiction.
The author, Nancy Butts, clearly and truthfully reveals what cause and effect looks like over a two-year period for a family and its wider community. She answers several of the important questions her book poses, whilst still leaving readers with room to discuss concepts such as parallel worlds and states of consciousness. Dig as deep as you like, intentions and unintended consequences...karma...self- empowerment...spiritual enlightenment?
Okay, maybe that's just me riffing, but just imagine what a head start a ten-year old might have if he/she/they, pick your pronoun gave themselves the power and wisdom to discern the right path just as clearly as the central characters (Joey, Kevin, Ethan and Ariel) do here. Maybe that's what Nancy Betts had in mind. A better human being. They each have to re-examine their position and agree on the best approach in the absence of self-interest and 'the ego'.
'The Door In The Lake' teaches us about integrity, taking ownership and ultimately making the right choices for the right reasons. Two thumbs up 👍👍
The author, Nancy Butts, clearly and truthfully reveals what cause and effect looks like over a two-year period for a family and its wider community. She answers several of the important questions her book poses, whilst still leaving readers with room to discuss concepts such as parallel worlds and states of consciousness. Dig as deep as you like, intentions and unintended consequences...karma...self- empowerment...spiritual enlightenment?
Okay, maybe that's just me riffing, but just imagine what a head start a ten-year old might have if he/she/they, pick your pronoun gave themselves the power and wisdom to discern the right path just as clearly as the central characters (Joey, Kevin, Ethan and Ariel) do here. Maybe that's what Nancy Betts had in mind. A better human being. They each have to re-examine their position and agree on the best approach in the absence of self-interest and 'the ego'.
'The Door In The Lake' teaches us about integrity, taking ownership and ultimately making the right choices for the right reasons. Two thumbs up 👍👍
January 14, 2021
I first read this book in middle school (early 2010's) it was published in 1997, but my middle school's library was very outdated. I've been wanting to reread it for around eight years.
Rereading this was like discovering a long lost love. I It's the last line of the book that always gets me.
Anyways, this book--because it was published in the 90s-- is difficult to find, but I highly recommend it.
Rereading this was like discovering a long lost love. I It's the last line of the book that always gets me.
Anyways, this book--because it was published in the 90s-- is difficult to find, but I highly recommend it.
January 20, 2021
This book was so captivating, I read it in one sitting. It was mysterious and left you wanting more. I loved the ending.
I also loved the main character's voice. This book was clearly from a tween's point of view navigating school, family, and aliens.
I also loved the main character's voice. This book was clearly from a tween's point of view navigating school, family, and aliens.
February 8, 2019
This book was ok. It wasn't really interesting, but it wasn't bad. Don't reccomend it for people who are interested into fiction and cool books. The beginning part was kind of boring though. :(
June 29, 2021
Read this with my 3rd grader. She loved it. There was a lot of suspense and it was a quick read.
December 20, 2021
⭐3
Honestly, I liked this more than I thought!
Honestly, I liked this more than I thought!
April 25, 2022
A good middle-grade read for kids who like aliens encounters.
February 16, 2023
Read it to see if my students would like it.
It was fun and definitely great for the target audience!
It was fun and definitely great for the target audience!
June 13, 2024
I was told by my boyfriend to read this book. I’m so glad I did! It was fast paced and kept me engaged the whole time. It’s worth the read for sure! Also has my last name in it!
May 17, 2023
This book captured the interest of some of my students. Although we were reading it as a class a couple of them read ahead and finished it before the rest.
It’s a good introduction to sci-fi.
It’s a good introduction to sci-fi.
March 28, 2013
The novel was quite simple and a very low-level read. A breeze for anyone who just wants a calm, easy book to pass some time. The novel follows the tale of Joey who, basically, time travels 2 years forward and he has no idea how or why it happened, just that the last thing he remembers is the camping trip he was on 2 years ago just before he disappeared.
I thought the novel was pretty ok. I would not read it again as I thought it was way too easy of a read and not nearly challenging enough. The plot and genre were fine, but it was definitely a much lower level read than expected. I felt that the conclusion of the novel was a bit quick and snappy too.
I thought the novel was pretty ok. I would not read it again as I thought it was way too easy of a read and not nearly challenging enough. The plot and genre were fine, but it was definitely a much lower level read than expected. I felt that the conclusion of the novel was a bit quick and snappy too.
October 4, 2011
The book that I read is The Door In The Lake. The book is about this one kid named is Joey and he is abtucted by aliens. He is twelve years old and they bring him back and he can't remember anything. He is also not feeling that he is growing or getting order.
The strengths of the book is the begging how it starts out. A bad thing is kinda the middle through the end. I still liked the book because it was good.
The connections I have with the book is that I like stories about aliens and stuff. I like when they are taken by aliens and then they come back and they forget everything.
The strengths of the book is the begging how it starts out. A bad thing is kinda the middle through the end. I still liked the book because it was good.
The connections I have with the book is that I like stories about aliens and stuff. I like when they are taken by aliens and then they come back and they forget everything.
January 15, 2009
Joey's life is turned upside down when he suddenly reappears after being missing for two years. The strange thing is, he hasn't aged one day since he's went missing and he can't remember where he's been that entire time. This book is very similar to the old Disney movie, "Flight of the Navigator" so if you're interested in that kind of thing, you'll enjoy this book. Filled with in-depth characters and suspenseful chapters, this is a great book for non-stop reading!
March 22, 2017
I loved this book, I gave it 5 stars because the auther made so you have to read the whole book to find out what happened. It was like he's gone and he's back kind of thing but it was exiting to find out what happened, but if you want find out you have to read the book yourself. I will tell you that I never thought i'd like a book like this and it may be your perfect book to.
June 6, 2011
I love the way the book skips from present and past. My favorite books are books about time travel. It doesn't only include that, but it has an alien involved in its plot as well. This book really made me keep reading until I was done.
October 23, 2011
a very classic story.
November 13, 2010
Good book with lots of suspense.
May 14, 2016
Dumb book. Not only did the author use writing for above the reading level, but there were random words capitalized in the middle of a sentence. And on top of that the plot was boring and choppy.
December 24, 2012
AWFUL JK
May 21, 2013
This book was okay. It might have been a. It more Interesting plot wise if the author had made the time Joey had been missing more than two years. Also I felt it could have been a bit longer.
January 24, 2014
My Instructors brilliance here convinced me to take her writing instruction. Nancy thanks for your kind words. You promised a sequel.
March 1, 2014
Even though it is fiction it made me believe in aliens when i was 11.
March 16, 2016
It was boring. It had no real theme. And it really didn't have anything to analyze. It was pretty bad. All that happens is he finds that the Alien is real. It isn't a good book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews