This carefully executed graphic novel is a fast-paced depiction of the true story of a lake in rural Louisiana that turned into a gigantic whirlpool of disaster on November 20, 1980. Told from the vantage of the lake, precise panels, clear visuals, and careful notes outline events before, during, and after the tumultuous human-assisted natural disaster. The fact that there were no casualties is the likely reason this event is not better known, though the scale and impact make it hard to forget. Cinematic spy shots highlight some of the people who were on the lake that fateful day. An uncle and a nephew out fishing, a tugboat crew, an estate owner and landscape manager, three dogs, a salt mine mining crew, oil workers and oil company men are all subjects on the catastrophic timeline. Gripping sequences outline how a multi-layered underground salt mine and an underground oil well intersected in such a way that the mine flooded, sucking in the lake water (including tankers, barges, trees, and shoreline), and then belched it all back out. Unbelievable but true, this graphic novel, along with its satisfying Author’s Note, invites discussion about human actions and the environment.

"A riveting page-turner that will have readers eager to learn more about the topic." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The strange, true tale of a Louisiana lake that vanished--taking with it every fish below and every boat and barge above--told in a gripping and accessible graphic format.

Home to catfish and crawdads, shrimp and spoonbills, even a gator or two, Lake Peigneur--pronounced "your pain," only backward--bustles also with human life. Each day, the bean-shaped freshwater lake and its shores hum with folks going about their work: a devoted gardener's apprentice and his dogs, fishermen, oilmen drilling at Well P-20, and the fifty-one miners employed by the Diamond Crystal Salt Mines. For most, November 20, 1980, began as "just another day on the lake." But as the lake itself reflects, humans had, over time, left behind a honeycomb of salt highways deep beneath its surface, and water and salt mix all too well. Bracing, suspenseful, and packed with dramatic illustrations and dense end matter, this story of a catastrophic accident--narrated with the homespun voice of a "tall" tale, but true nonetheless--will amaze science and history buffs alike.