The Tale of Truthwater Lake

'Exhilarating.' FT'Absolutely gorgeous.' Hilary McKay'Gripping.' Guardian'Lovely and satisfying read.' The Week Junior'Gorgeously told.' LoveReadingOn one side of the underwater street is the remains of a house . 'Exhilarating.' FT'Absolutely gorgeous.' Hilary McKay'Gripping.' Guardian'Lovely and satisfying read.' The Week Junior'Gorgeously told.' LoveReadingOn one side of the underwater street is the remains of a house . . . It's beautiful here, and eerie, a lost kingdom, a ghost village . . .It's the near-future and Britain is having yet another heatwave. Of course, the government have put in the normal curfews for this kind of weather, and shops are forced to shut again. For Polly, it's the sort of heat that makes her do wild, out-of-character things just to cool down.Like face her fear of deepwater. Essential when she and her brother have been sent to their aunt's eco lake-side house for the summer.But Truthwater Lake is beginning to dry up. As the water level diminishes, a lost village emerges. Swimming over the rooftops at midnight, Polly dives down and is suddenly able to breathe, to hear church bells and bird song . . . Polly has discovered an underwater gateway . . . to the past!

It’s 2032 and Britain is facing yet another heatwave. Temperatures are breaking all records, and now government curfews are in place to ensure people stay indoors out of the sun. But it’s also the school holidays and Polly Carraway is fed up. When a late night beach swim goes horribly wrong she’s relieved to be sent away, with her troubled brother Joel, to stay with their aunt, whose house is on the banks of a reservoir. On arriving Polly’s shocked to see Truthwater Lake is drying up. As the water level drops, a lost village emerges. And even here, in the countryside, it’s still too hot to sleep. Swimming in the lake at midnight, Polly dives down and is suddenly able to breathe, to touch rooftops and see gravestones and hear bird song ... Has Polly found a gateway into the past?