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    Below
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    Audiobook4 hours

    Below

    Written by Meg McKinlay

    Narrated by Tara Sands

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Secrets have a way of floating to the surface.… Mystery, compelling characters, and an abandoned town beneath a lake make for a compelling 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?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMay 14, 2013
    ISBN9781469275413
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Below

    4/5

    26 ratings7 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I read this book very quickly and when I was done, I definitely wanted more. I wasn't quite sure where this book was going -- it was one I picked at random on my kindle on a long train ride -- so I didn't know what to expect, and was pleased to see that it was a simple story about Cassie trying to unravel a mystery.

      At times this story just felt like sketches of a larger universe. We get enough detail about the characters and the history of the town to be able to make the story work, but also the sense that there could be a much fuller picture if we spent more time in the story. The writing has a dreamy quality about it, and there's almost a feeling of magical realism, although the story isn't fantasy in the slightest (that I can tell). I really enjoyed McKinlay's writing style here, and it worked very well with the whole theme of an underwater/drowned town.

      I did at times forget how old Cassie is supposed to be. She's around 12, but sometimes the narration felt much older than that in tone, and sometimes she just seems more mature and thoughtful than your average pre-teen. I really liked her, though, as well as her relationship with her family (both of her parents are actually there! and involved! and don't just disappear!) and friend Liam. I kept expecting romance to bloom between them, whenever I forgot that she was 12. There's nothing of the sort happening there, though, Cassie and Liam are just friends who learn to work together to uncover a mystery that they didn't even know they were searching for in the first place.

      The ending of Below approaches quickly, with the mystery being solved in just the last few pages of the book. This is where I would have wanted a little more, because the "and then this is what happened" wrap up felt very rushed. Overall I enjoyed the read, though, it was a great way to pass an hour or so. It's a clean read, with only a few references to a violent car crash and a past character death that is only mentioned.
    • 4/5
      Cassie Romano can barely breathe. At least that's what her family and community thinks. When she was born two months too early, the doctors said she would struggle with her breath for the rest of her life. But one day, rather than going to the public pool after school to get her proscribed 6 laps in, Cassie heads over to the wrong side of the lake that swallowed up the town where she was born. With all that history drowned under a lake, what will she find there that will strike panic and fear into a mayor who spends all his time sweeping the town flaws under the rug? Will Cassie and her friend, Liam, discover a secret under the surface that's been hidden for over a decade? McKinlay's prose is the perfect balance between the terse, sarcastic tone of a 12-year-old and the lyrical language that keeps a reader turning the pages. School librarians and teachers will also appreciate McKinlay's approach to media censorship and integrity - is everything we read the whole story? Below is a story about many things; overcoming adversity, finding friendship in unlikely places, and how history has a way of retelling itself without all its parts. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      Even though I figured out the mystery about halfway through, I remained engaged to see how Cassie would solve it and what would happen when she did. (Middle schoolers probably won't figure it out as quickly as I did. It's certainly realistic that Cassie didn't.) The tone is quietly ominous. I appreciated the philosophical questions: when we tell history, what gets left out and why? What's the value in knowing the history of a place? Is home about people or places or some combination? I felt beat over the head sometimes with literary metaphor -- yes, I get it, a lot is hiding "under the surface of the water"! -- but overall I found it an enjoyable read. Not sure which kids I would give it to, though. It's too short for the middle schoolers who are ready for weird and challenging, and too slow and non-linear for the more reluctant readers or concrete thinkers. Maybe advanced 4th or 5th grade readers who like unusual mysteries?

      Maybe I missed something, but I was still confused by the timeline by the end. Did Finkle push for the town to be drowned because of the accident, or did he just take advantage of the plan for his own ends? I live in Boston, which pushed for towns to be drowned to build the Quabbin Reservoir at the turn of the last century, so I found that whole decision-making process an intriguing part of the book!
    • 5/5
      Below by Meg McKinlay is the story of a town that is gearing up to celebrate its relocation and the creation of a lake (due to the intentional flooding of the old town). Twelve years on, the town is facing a new drought and pieces of the old town have begun to surface at the back of their man made lake. As a Californian watching my state go through its own worst drought in years and seeing old things surfacing as the water recedes, I can say this book struck home.Cassie who was born the day the town was flooded feels compelled to investigate the true story behind the town's flooding, feeling that something is off on the way everyone seems to remember it. Her best way to do that is through the old town itself, which means swimming in the out of bounds area.The story of Old Lower Grange rings true. Many towns have been relocated and the old buildings flooded as populations grow and with them the need for water. Near where I live, there is Shasta Lake which sits above Kennett when the Pit, McCloud and Sacramento Rivers were damed in 1948. More recently near San Diego, Olivenhain Dam was built and flooded out a valley near Escondido. Looking at Google Maps, you can see a road that leads right up to the water's edge (and under it). Suffice it to say, I loved this book. I loved how the true story behind the town's flooding was revealed over the course of the summer. Cassie and her friend who are both outsiders in that they are just too young to have known the old town but are too old to feel a part of the new town were the perfect pair to uncover the ways their lives were forever changed by the flooding.
    • 4/5
      This book surprised me, which is something that rarely happens and it is typically something small. However this book was an all around surprising book for me and I definitely wouldn't have been able to guess how it ended, let alone what happened in the middle. Trust that it has a happy ending. Truthfully I hadn't realized that the town was legitimately submerged underneath water and so was the town's secrets. The plot flowed easily which made it that much easier to slip into the life of the main character as she struggled between who she is and the past that she didn't have a chance to be a part of. Cassie, the main character, was born early - that much was made clear. Perhaps, she shouldn't have been born at all or so some people believe. It would be hard to tear your family away from the triumphant moment when the town sunk beneath the water especially when it seems to haunt you since you were born. Despite all of the things that seem to be against her, she is amazingly smart and she has a vast knowledge about the town that she never saw - a town she never got the chance to know. Her lungs, under developed from her early birth, only seems to encourage her desire to see the town even if it is just from the surface of the lake as she swims across. Her intuitive nature and her desire for answers are what drives the whole story and it definitely brings about answers that will shock people. I was actually surprised with Liam, simply because he became a character that was so different from what I had conceived he would be. His life is what I would think would be the definition of hard, at least for me. He was born along with his twin brother in the original town, awhile prior to the idea of drowning the town was discussed. However he became deformed when his family got in an accident which killed his twin brother and forever changed his father from the man he once had been. Liam partly blames himself and because of that Cassie was able to form a connection with him. I think he has a crush on her though and in many ways I think they are perfect for each other. He is a great kid that loves his family and looks out for his dad. Not what I expected but something I definitely loved. Her parents are polar opposites from each other and yet they both attempt to show Cassie love in their own unique way which sometimes only seems to hinder their relationship with them. It's clear they didn't want another kid and didn't need one, so how can they have some deep bond that most claim to have with their kids? Her mom is a history teacher, who had taken off time to raise a family and once the two older kids had gotten older, returned to work. She practically raised Cassie in the class room. She is overly protective of her and certainly treats her other kids different. Cassie sees that it is unfair. Her dad is the artist of the family and a free spirit. He doesn't see the world like everyone else and he takes a more gentle approach with how to love his youngest child. He allows Cassie to watch him create and shares secrets with her that he would not share with anyone else.Her siblings always seem to be miles away from her as though they realize they have a younger sibling and yet sometimes refuse to acknowledge the bond that definitely could've formed between them. Her sister is perhaps the toughest one of all to understand. She works for the mayor, a character that has a great deal of charisma and has an addiction to his power, and doesn't question everything - not like Cassie. She is always trying to make the city government look better and I can't decide if that is admirable or annoying. She is the sibling that constantly rains on Cassie's parade and point out that when important things had happened, Cassie wasn't alive. Her brother tries to be supportive of his sister and not make things so awkward for her. He realizes that she is struggling with the age gap so he just doesn't push like her sister does. He manages to bring humor to some of the hardest moments. He helps Cassie find her place in the world, even if it is not with their family.I really liked this book. So check it out!
    • 4/5
      I actually really enjoyed this book. I thought the drowned town setting was interesting. I thought the characters were believable. My only concern was whether kids would understand it was set in Australia. I wasn't sure that was clear at the beginning.
    • 5/5
      Cassie was born on the day her town died. Or rather, the day that her town was purposely flooded and everything was rebuilt around a manmade lake. Everything is supposed to be the same. But Cassie, the youngest of her siblings, feels like she doesn't belong. She doesn't remember the old town, but her family does. Her sister and brother have memories from their old house, and she can never, ever be a part of that.Cassie has always been fascinated by the lake, and, ordered by the doctor to swim regularly to strengthen her lungs, she finds herself there, instead of the pool, doing her laps. At first, it's just to avoid the crowded pool. But soon, it's discoveries. The off-limits side of the lake. A friend she didn't know she had. And -- on the edge of the town's highly anticipated centennial celebration -- a mystery that could unravel everything, especially for a few pillars of the community.BELOW is a beautiful novel. The writing, the characters, the town of Lower Grange -- all gorgeous and filled out perfectly, like summer should be. And, also like summer, it's fleeting. A page-turner that keeps you up at night, waiting to find the next clue. And while this doesn't read like a whodunnit, it is a mystery, with themes of growing up, family, and friendship. Meg McKinlay's latest is a work of art, and I hope many summer readers are finding it as refreshing as I did.