The Tale of Truthwater Lake: 'Absolutely gorgeous.' Hilary McKay

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On one side of the underwater street is the remains of a house . . . It’s beautiful here, and eerie, a lost kingdom, a ghost village . . . The winners of The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2023, highlighting the work schools are doing to encourage a love of reading, have... Polly and her brother leave blistering Brighton which is battling another heatwave. The government declares everyone has to be inside when the temperature passes 40 degrees. Polly and her brother gain some respite from the heat by staying with their aunt who has a garden that leads to a lake. Polly has just started to learn to swim so the idea of escaping her flat sounds like heave. 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. Set 10 years in the future, fraught with climate issues and 70 years in the past where a village is about to be submerged to make way for a new lake. Polly and Nellie take us through these respective times when they are trying to help friends and achieve things others consider too difficult or dangerous.

This is such a brilliant, timely and thought-provoking story that completely absorbed me as I followed the friends plans for their Channel swimming challenge, the drowning of a village, and Polly’s discoveries in her present … such incredible secrets revealed … and the most wonderful heart-warming ending. Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - Probably that rationing was still in force, and that some homes, especially in the countryside, didn't have electricity or inside toilets. The past in the book is the 1950s, which is a fairly recent period. What stood out for you about this time and when you were researching it? Whilst at the lake Polly accidentally ends up in 1952 – before the village under the lake was flooded to make the reservoir. She experiences the very different life of a village that no longer exists, the social mores of the time and the privations that existed in 1952 (being so close to WWII). Whilst she can’t talk to Joel about it, she learns a great deal about determination, friendship, and channel swimming!This Signed Edition features beautiful sprayed edges and an A5 Art Print Hand Signed by Emma Carroll and illustrator, Daniela Terrazzini. But news of bad weather is coming, and Dad is coming to get them. Polly is torn. She has to know what's going to happen to Nellie and Lena. Nellie, unlike Polly, is an avid swimmer and dreams of swimming the English Channel. She is also going to have to leave her village as it is being flooded to make a reservoir. Can Nellie fulfil her dream before her village is lost? I loved being swept into Nellie’s exciting challenge, as she, her best friend Lena and new friend, Nate work together to make history. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

It had a lot of potential, but... sigh. I loved Letters from the Lighthouse (or is it "to the Lighthouse"?), but as beautiful as my copy of this one is, I'm leaving it behind in England. It's not one I'll keep in my home library. This will not, however, keep me from reading more books by Carroll. About the Author: Emma Carroll taught English for twenty years until a life-changing cancer diagnosis meant that she felt brave enough to give her dream of being an author a try. Nowadays she's a bestselling author and has been nominated for and won numerous awards - including Books Are My Bag Readers' Award, Branford Boase, CILIP Carnegie Medal, Young Quills, Teach Primary and the Waterstones Book Prize. Emma lives in the Somerset Hills with her husband and their two terriers. It's hot. So hot that it's unsafe to be out in the sun during the day, with the government imposing a law to keep people inside when over 42deg C. Siblings Joel and Polly are melting inside their flat in the summer school holidays. Learning that they are going to stay at their aunt Jessie's in the country comes as a relief.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 . . . This book starts very differently- 10 years in the future. This is a future where climate change has led to scorching summers and shortages. It is a very timely book after the heatwave we have had this summer, which makes the scenario so much more believable.

Nellie lives in Syndercombe in the winter of 1952. She loves open water swimming and dreams of crossing the English Channel. When a champion swimmer visits her club, she realises she just might have a chance – unless a new boy and his family succeed in taking everything away from her. Nellie isn’t the only one with a dream. Each character in this powerful story longs for something more. Their actions reveal just how important it is to have dreams and not hesitate to pursue them. Key themes are whether decisions made in the pursuit of progress are the best in the long run. There are fracturing friendships and miscommunications, parental expectations vs being yourself, and of course the result of 'progress' being global warming. The Tale of Truthwater Lake is a gripping time-slip adventure which blends the past and the near-future perfectly in a story of enduring friendship, courage and resilience. The Tale of Truthwater Lake” is a captivating story about two young girls separated in time but both learning how to make their own mark in the world, to be loved and accepted by those around them.

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. It took quite a bit of planning and editing, I can tell you! The two stories needed to work independently, but also echo each other in some way. The link is represented by the door handle and the act of swimming, both of which are big symbols in both stories. Nellie is an excellent swimmer in her area, and with Lena at her side Nellie tries out for an amazing opportunity. A wealthy man is keen to sponsor and train a child to be the very first child to swim the Channel between England and France. Nellie is devastated when a boy she's never met before is chosen over her, and the disappointment just won't leave her. Again, with Lena by her side, another opportunity arises.

Due to the excessive heat, Truthwater Lake is drying up, revealing the remains of the old village of Syndercombe which was flooded in the early 1950s to make a reservoir to supply water. Drawn to the sight of the old church under the water, Polly swims towards it, her feet touching the roof tiles … and finds herself in a past time where she is Nellie Foster. Author Guy Bass introduces SCRAP, about one robot who tried to protect the humans on his planet against an army of robots. Now the humans need his... But it's just as hot there too. In fact, a nearby lake has drastically shrunk in the heatwave revealing the remains of a village once called Syndercombe. Aunt Jessie explains that there are even more buildings under the water that is left, and the area was flooded on purpose. Your debut children's book, Frost Hollow Hall, was published by Faber Children's Books a decade ago. How does it feel to have reached this milestone as a children's writer?For Polly, it’s the kind of heat that makes her do wild, out-of-character things just to cool down! So, when she and her brother are sent to their aunt’s eco house for the summer, Polly decides to face her fear of deep water and take a dip in the nearby Truthwater Lake. Channel swimming became a real craze at this time, as did other outdoor pursuits. Gertrude Erderle, who my character Nellie idolises, was the first woman to swim the channel in 1926. Showing off your physical prowess was a Big Thing! The other swimmers mentioned in the story are figments of my imagination. 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! About This Edition ISBN: Why did you decide to explore the effects of climate change by glimpsing into a near future in this story?