Return to Gone-Away: A Beloved Classic Story About Summer Magic and Ghostly Discovery at a Lakeside Resort for Children (Ages 8-12)

So good I almost cried 🥺when I finished it and I’m just gonna say it was so so so so so so so so so so good,lovely,sweet,and more. I wish there were more books 📚 I ❤️it so much 🥹

Elizabeth Enright was a children's author who never wrote down for her audience. The children who are the subjects of her stories are bright, articulate, and extremely well read. While Return to Gone Away and its predecessor Gone Away Lake are less well known than her excellent Melendy Quartet, they are nevertheless just as worthwhile. About a year after the events of Gone Away Lake, Portia and her brother Foster, with their parents in tow, returned to Gone Away Lake. This time they are there to stay, their parents having bought one of the old run down houses in the abandoned summer colony at the dried up lake. Much of the story revolves around the discoveries the family makes as they rehabilitate the old house. Portia's cousin Julian also plays a role here, as do Aunt Min and Uncle Pin, the eccentric full time residents of Gone Away. As always with an Enright book, the vocabulary is rich and complex and there are many references to other books and other times. But these are strengths, not weaknesses. Parents and teachers should not hesitate to hand Enright's books to their children, for doing so will introduce them to a beautiful world of language and metaphor.

Return to Gone-Away is a beloved favorite from my childhood. My question is : Why is the first book in the series not offered as an ebook? The whole Melendy family series is offered (4 books), but not the whole Gone-Away series. It doesn't make sense. All of Elizabeth Enright's books are delightful for the young and young at heart.

I love this story. This duology is one that sticks with you. It is like getting to step back in time, both to the 1950-1960s as well as the 1890s. The characters are excellent. Portia and Julian and Foster and Aunt Minnehaha and Uncle Pin... It's a Lovely book to read in the summer, because it describes the summer so well. Reread and oh so worth it.

Our teacher read the original book (Gone Away Lake) to my class in third grade, when it came out in the late 50’s. I loved it. It became a family favorite being re-read over the years. I read it to my child and a friend some 40 years later. And, despite the difference in time period, they enjoyed it too. Now, some 60 years later(!), I just discovered there was a sequel I never knew about. Of course I had to buy it and read it immediately. I enjoyed it very much, though it was, perhaps, not quite as exciting as the original. I can’t help but have been pleased at time traveling back to a period where the kids played outdoors, explored, etc. without a computer, phone, or even a TV in sight. Pure nostalgia! Those were kinder gentler times. So, if you want to give your kids a trip back to those days, do start with the original so you will know more about the characters and history of the place, and then continue on with this one. It’s a great read aloud book for your kids or for kids who are doing well with reading on their own.

These two books – Gone-Away Lake and Return to Gone-Away – transported me as a child, and I recently sought them out for my great-niece. Rereading them transported me again, except that this time, knowing so much more about everything, I enjoyed them even more. Children really were much more independent in the '50s, and became more resourceful as a result. Today's parents and children will benefit from stories such as this, featuring children (and their parents) who are at ease with children's natural explorations of their surroundings and experiments with building, repairing, outfitting, and generally DOING as opposed to passively watching others do things on screens big and small. These children's parents have included them in the everyday chores of a household: cleaning, decorating, repairing things, making things out of other things. They have taught their children basic skills, so that the children are able to do for themselves when given the opportunity. These are delightful stories of good children interacting in good ways with good adults and with nature. Highly recommend!!

Return To Gone-Away is a continuation of Gone-Away Lake and picks up 6 months after the first book ends. I have always enjoyed Elizabeth Enright's writing. Though her books are written for young people they still have an adult appeal. She paints word pictures that stir the imagination. I always wanted to find Gone-Away Lake myself, and I was glad that she had written a second book about it. The illustrations in this book are wonderfully detailed and bring to life characters like Uncle Pindar and Aunt Minnehaha. As with Gone-Away Lake, I read this book as a kid and still enjoy rereading it as an adult. I know this book is dated - no computers, no cells phones, no social media. But I still think many kids would love to experience the adventures Portia and Julian have in this book.

I had always hoped there was a sequel to the book Gone-Away Lake. This book is just as good as the first one. I'm 61 and read it for the first time. The internet can be a good place to look for books! The characters all still have that wonderful charm and whimsy.

La renovación y limpieza de una vieja casa está llena de descubrimientos y sorpresas que no hacen sino añadir encanto a la mansión y a la historia. Una novela de lectura relajante, entretenida y muy placentera.

Read Gona away lake as a child and have rediscovered it. Still as good a read as an adult.

My ten year daughter loved this book and the first one Gone Away Lake. When I asked her how she liked it, she responded that it was different but that she really liked it. She liked it even more than the first book, Gone Away Lake.

Much loved childhood book unusual theme with companion volume

This is an Amazon publication. It does not reference the original copyright at all at the front of the book. The cover image is a low res stock photo blown up to size. It does not represent the story at all and is clearly a low effort choice by someone who never read the book. There are no illustrations at all in this book. The only positive aspect is that the paper feels reasonable quality and the ink didn't bleed so the letters and words look crisp. All in all, this is a poor print of this book and I will finding a different version for our library.