Lullaby for Lakeside

Nestled against the shores of Lake Erie, Lakeside in the 1960s is the perfect place for a young girl to spend her summers. The views are magnificent, no cars are allowed within the gates, and the swimming area is well guarded. Children can wander and play in safety. It’s the quintessential American small town.

Claire thinks the road trip to Lakeside takes too long, but the journey is always worth it—because at the end, beloved Auntie Cree is waiting to welcome her.

These stories of a time now gone center on Claire and the people of Lakeside. Sleepy and welcoming though Lakeside is, the community deals with the same challenges and joys that beset any small American town at the time. Claire’s adventures as a child and teen intermingle with tales from the town as Lakeside deals with anti-Semitism, a kidnapping, and a then-scandalous love affair between two elderly women.

Author Beth Armstrong visited Lakeside every year as a child, and now she combines memory and imagination to create nine tales of the northern Ohio town. You may not have visited Lakeside itself, but you’ll recognize the time and the town—and the growing Claire does there.

Beth Armstrong grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and during those years, she visited Lakeside every summer. She later graduated from Tufts University and pursued her master's degree in music education from the University of New Hampshire.

Armstrong lived and worked in New Hampshire for almost thirty years, where she taught music in addition to composing and conducting. She married former music educator and school administrator Stewart Armstrong, and together they have four grown children and five grandchildren. She now lives in Rhode Island.