I remember reading this story as a child. A young boy finds a baby loch ness monster (plesiosaurus) and tries to keep it safe. I wanted my own so badly as well. The book is rather gory, as several people are eaten by the monsters, including a cameraman early on. I liked the tone of the book and the descriptions of cryptozoology- a rather fun albeit useless field of study. ( )

mentioned in an article about rereads... some noteworthy thinks this is special that way...
reviews here diverge... seems that those who read w/ certain expectations are disappointed...
library system has plenty of copies; I'll decide for myself someday later...

The cover is just...the best! :) Gotta love monsters, especially water monsters. One of my loved childhood books. ( )

It's an amazing book about a sea monster. ( )

Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 1994 (Vol. 48, No. 3))
Young Luke Perkins is nicknamed "Loch" after he sees the famed monster in Scotland; ten years later, fifteen-year-old Loch is saddened by the recent death of his mother and the subsequent decline of his scientist father. Dr. Sam seems to be completely cowed by his employer, Mr. Cavenger, a tabloid publisher who sends Loch's father on quests for proof about mythological beings such as Sasquatch and Nessie, and who has decided to investigate a small Vermont lake for eerie underwater inhabitants. It turns out to have them in droves-primeval yet evolved marine creatures (the book labels them plesiosaurs) who fight back savagely and gorily against the heartless humans who seek to destroy and exploit them. Loch and his sister, Zaidee, discover a softer side to the creatures, however, when they befriend a stranded young one whom they call "Wee Beastie"; with the help of Cavenger's daughter, Sarah, they protect Wee Beastie from the money-grubbing publisher and his henchmen until the not-so-wee beasties slay their foes and make it back to their original, bigger habitat. This is sort of a cross between ET and Jaws-the kids desperately attempt to protect the misunderstood against the arrogant, but the bad guys bite the dust with great drama ("Erdon's last conscious thought was the realization that he was being chewed in half"), leaving grisly bits of people floating about the lake. The characters are pretty stock, the sentimental undertones rather unsubtle ("We're a family again, aren't we?" asks Zaidee as she gazes up at her re-empowered father after the great boss-killing denouement), and nobody seems much worried about what will happen to the residents of the bigger lake to which the creatures flee. Still, it's a good, rip-roaring, kids-know-best adventure that would make a terrific beach paperback and has "reluctant reader" written all over it. Ad--Additional book of acceptable quality for collections needing more material in the area. Reviewed from galleys (c) Copyright 1994, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 1994, HarperCollins, [192p], $14.89 and $15.00. Grades 6-9.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1994)
Loch, so nicknamed because he is sure he once encountered the Loch Ness monster, accompanies his father on an expedition to discover prehistoric creatures in a New England lake. Loch, his crush, and his younger sister meet the monsters and ultimately save them from destruction. What with the gory deaths, sympathetic monsters, and stock characters, there is little to redeem the fast-paced adventure. Category: Fiction. 1994, HarperCollins, 211pp.. Ages 14 to 18. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws. ( )