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

Product Information

Carroll has created believable characters and text that draws you in. Each chapter ending, leaving the reader wanting more. LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives.

Another great read from the queen of historical children's fiction, The Tale of Truthwater Lake is a timeslip story set partly ten years hence when the world is in crisis due to global warming, and partly in 1952. In the future, Polly and her brother go to stay with their aunt in the school hols to try to escape the stifling heat of the south coast. Their aunt lives near a large reservoir, created over a flooded village. When Polly sneaks out in the early hours of the morning determined to swim in the lake to try to cool down, she meets Nellie who is planning a daring escapade, and soon Polly herself becomes invested in Nellie's great adventure. 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:

Nowadays, she’s a bestselling author and the ‘Queen of Historical Fiction’ ( BookTrust). She has been nominated for and the winner of numerous national, regional and schools awards – including the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Award, Branford Boase, CILIP Carnegie Medal, Young Quills, Teach Primary and the Waterstones Book Prize. Emma is one of very few authors to have been Waterstones Book of the Month twice.

Hello Yellow - 80 Books to Help Children Nurture Good Mental Health and Support With Anxiety and Wellbeing - I absolutely loved this book. It has so many facets, all handled with skill and delicacy by Emma Carroll. It would make an excellent class reader, and would lead to much discussion. At its heart, however, it is a clever, thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable story. I have already started to recommend The Tale of Truthwater Lake to friends and colleagues, and feel sure that it will feature on many forthcoming awards lists. 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.The story is a time-slip adventure set in the near future and in 1952. I was inspired, firstly, by a book called 'A Boy in the Water' by Tom Gregory, which is his account of swimming the English channel as an 11 year old boy. It's a true story and an incredible read. 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. 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. Whilst this is a story mostly set in the past, the part set in the near-future feels prescient, and will open up lots of opportunity for discussion about climate change. That this was an era with a foot in the past - horses still worked the land, cars were a luxury few could afford, refrigerators, antibiotics, television sets, weren't yet in widespread use, and rationing of some goods was still in place. And yet the world was very definitely looking to the future. After the war the population was booming. People needed new housing, and new gadgets to put in them. Cinema and music became even more popular, especially amongst younger generations.

It's a really intriguing moment in history where things could've gone so badly wrong. It's also a very good example of diplomacy in action: Robert Kennedy and his Russian counterpart talked their way out of the conflict. Because of American airbases on British soil, we would've been drawn into any war with Russia, so the situation was perilous for us, too. The main surprise for me was how close we came to actual war. Some of the sources now made public would've been top secret at the time, and certainly make for chilling reading!"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.