Below - Hardcover

McKinlay, Meg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763661260 ISBN 13: 9780763661267

Publisher: Candlewick, 2013

Synopsis

Secrets have a way of floating to the surface. . . . Mystery, compelling characters, and an abandoned town beneath a lake make for a must-read adventure.

On the day Cassie was born, they drowned her town. The mayor flipped a lever and everyone cheered as Old Lower Grange was submerged beneath five thousand swimming pools’ worth of water. Now, twelve years later, Cassie feels drawn to the manmade lake and the mysteries it hides — and she’s not the only one. Her classmate Liam, who wears oversized swim trunks to cover the scars on his legs, joins Cassie in her daily swims across the off-limits side of the lake. As the summer heats up, the water drops lower and lower, offering them glimpses of the ghostly town and uncovering secrets one prominent town figure seems anxious to keep submerged. But like a swimmer who ventures too far from shore, Cassie realizes she can’t turn back. Can she bring their suspicions to light before it’s too late — and does she dare?

About this title

About the Author

Meg McKinlay is a poet as well as a children’s writer. She lives in Australia and divides her time between writing and teaching at the University of Western Australia.

Reviews

Gr 5-7-On the day Cassie was born, her town was drowned; the New Lower Grange replaced the old one but without its history. Cassie feels responsible somehow that her early birth disconnected her family from their past. As she turns 12, she finds herself drawn to the lake that now covers the town she has only heard stories about. Her mother insists that daily swims in the town pool are important to strengthen her lungs, but Cassie is distracted by Band-Aids in the water, the cruelty of more popular kids, and her own self-consciousness. But the now officially forbidden lake is quiet, removed, and very appealing. During the dry, hot summer, the lake gradually recedes as Cassie's friendship with a classmate, a surprisingly kindred spirit, develops. Together Liam and Cassie uncover the mysteries of Old Lower Grange hidden below the lake and see how their lives have been changed by those secrets. Though pacing is initially slowed by Cassie's introspection, readers will hold their breath as she challenges herself, swimming far into the forbidden side of the lake as the story unfolds. Her voice is convincing as she and Liam glimpse more of the drowned town. By novel's end, the town and all of its residents come to grips with the past and look forward to a bright, swimming future. Readers will enjoy spending time with Cassie and Liam and will appreciate the satisfying resolution.-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Libraryα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

On the day Cassie was born, her town’s mayor flipped a switch, and Old Lower Grange was submerged “under two hundred feet of water.” Now 12 years old, Cassie is drawn to the man-made lake. Undeterred by no-entry signs, Cassie starts swimming in it with her friend Liam, who was physically scarred, just as his father was mentally and emotionally scarred, by the car accident that killed his twin brother 12 years earlier. As they dive deeper and deeper through the slowly receding waters, they begin to retrieve clues to a crime covered up years before. Written in short sentences and simple vocabulary, Cassie’s first-person narrative is accessible, but she and Liam sometimes seem older than their years. One theme in the novel, becoming more explicit near the end, is that history shifts according to who records it and what they choose to leave out and put in. Though initially the characters feel a bit distant, the writing and the story in this Australian novel become increasingly compelling. Grades 5-7. --Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0763661260
• ISBN 13: 9780763661267
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224