A Clear Spring

by Barbara Wilson

Willa C. Lopez is traveling on her own for the first time. She's almost twelve, and grown-up enough to fly on a plane by herself and spend the summer away from home. But is Willa ready for the changes, surprises, and mysteries she'll find when she arrives?

Willa is spending her summer in Seattle with Aunt Ceci and her partner, Janie. Through her work as a naturalist, Janie introduces Willa to the local wildlife and ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest. Then someone starts polluting the salmon stream in the park where Janie works, and Willa teams up with her cousin Tabitha to find the culprit. From her diverse, confident, and sometimes eccentric bunch of relatives, Willa learns that there isn't any one kind of family—the only requirement is love. She also learns about ecosystems and "scientific sleuthing," and discovers what may be her life's work.

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Barbara Wilson is the pen name of author and translator Barbara Sjoholm. Her mysteries, written under the name Barbara Wilson, include two series, one with printer Pam Nilsen (Murder in the Collective) and one with translator-sleuth Cassandra Reilly. Her mysteries include the Lambda-award-winning Gaudi Afternoon, made into a film of the same name. She was a co-founder of Seal Press and in 2020 received the annual Trailblazer Award from the Golden Crown Literary Society for her contributions to lesbian literature. Her books have been published in England and translated into Spanish, Finnish, German, and Japanese.