Beneath the Surface

by Gary Crew, Steven Woolman (Illustrator)

The mist lifted the moment he stepped through. And there was the watertower at the summit. His watertower... This was what he had come for.

In the award-winning book THE WATERTOWER, readers were introduced to the small town of Preston and the old watertower that stands outside the town. It is a place where Bubba and Spike go to play and swim. But what lurks in the deep waters? Why are the townspeople changing?

In BENEATH THE SURFACE, Spike, now a doctor of science, returns to uncover the mystery and to find an explanation for the nightmares that haunt him. What he discovers will change his life forever.

BENEATH THE SURFACE is the long-awaited sequel to THE WATERTOWER, winner of the 1995 CBC Book of the Year Award.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Dr Gary Crew, author of novels, short stories and picture books for older children and young adults, began his writing career in 1985, when he was a high school teacher. His books are challenging and intriguing, often based on non-fiction. As well as writing fiction, Gary is a Associate Professor in Creative Writing, Children's and Adult Literature, at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and editor of the After Dark series.

He lives with his wife Christine on several acres in the cool, high mountains of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland, Australia in a house called 'Green Mansions' which is shaded by over 200 Australian rainforest palms he has cultivated. He enjoys gardening, reading, and playing with his dogs Ferris, Beulah, and Miss Wendy. In his spare time he has created an Australian Rainforest Garden around his home, filled with Australian palms. Gary loves to visit antique shops looking for curios and beautiful objects.

Gary Crew has been awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the year four times: twice for Book of the Year for Young Adult Older Readers (Strange Objects in 1991 and Angel’s Gate in 1993) and twice for Picture Book of the Year with First Light in 1993 (illustrated by Peter Gouldthorpe) and The Watertower (illustrated by Steven Woolman) in 1994. Gary’s illustrated book, Memorial (with Shaun Tan) was awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia Honour Book in 2000 and short listed for the Queensland Premier’s Awards. He has also won the Wilderness Society Award, the Whitley Award and the Aurealis Award for Speculative Fiction.

In the USA he has been twice short listed for the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Mystery Fiction Award for Youth and the Hungry Minds Review American Children’s Book of distinction. In Europe he has twice been and twice the prestigious White Raven Award for his illustrated books. Among his many Australian awards is the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction, the New South Wales Premier’s Award and the Victorian Premier’s Award. He has been short listed for both the Queensland Premier’s and the Western Australian Premier’s awards for Fiction.

Reviews

[Courtney Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant.

[Emkoshka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to discover a sequel to The Watertower. One of the original boys, Spike, returns to the town and the watertower to make sense of the nightmares that have been haunting him. Stephen Woolman's illustrations are every bit as sinister and malevolent as in the original and employ the same panel format to great effect, juxtaposing disparate scenes from across the world to show how far the watertower mark has spread with Spike's investigations.

This book is a lot darker than the original and strongly suggests that the watertower mark has alien origins, as conveyed through the beautifully detailed image of two affected scientists sitting at a computer inside an astronomy dome. Each subsequent page shows a different part of the world and reveals that people have been affected, but the text continues to tell Spike's story, which makes for a bit of confusing reading at first. But as the story and images unfold along separate paths, you start to realise the implications and when they converge again (on the page after the particularly creepy image of devilish-looking men sitting around a broken circle table looking at the planet earth), the unfortunate conclusion looks inevitable.

The sequel manages to capture the creepy sinister atmosphere of the original and extend it beautifully into something even scarier: alien domination. Classic and very scary science-fiction.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I didn't realise that a sequel had been published to The Watertower until today, when I stumbled across it in our library. I had a lesson planned for the first book, so I read this to see if we would use it for a follow-up lesson. Now, having read it, I remain unsure. The elements that made The Watertower so good remain - creepy visuals, engaging layout, hidden details etc. However, I think I prefer that the end to the first book was so open-ended, whereas this makes it much more obvious what is going on. Students will still enjoy hunting for clues and noticing details and it will be interesting to see them wonder about the disconnect between the text and the images.

A good book in & of itself, I'm just not sure a sequel was needed.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like the first I am left wanting more with a cliffhanger 😫 I really liked the inclusion of Spike being in the sequel, and him and me noticing the changes in Preston from what it was like when he was younger. What I cannot understand is why he would drink the water? He came back to study the water, and surely he didn’t think it would be normal water even after his tests coming back clear. He chose to become one of the people, to conform to the weird spell put upon Preston, and has now probably lost all humanity and motivation he had to study the water and uncover its secrets. Instead of doing more than whatever his “tests” were (look at the water with a microscope, dammit), he gives up, rather suddenly too, and I’m really curious as to why. “They only allowed him one sip” is intriguing too, implying that Spike maybe didn’t want to give up and he was already possessed or under control of whatever supernatural thing is going on. Most of the pictures had nothing to do with the story which was confusing and what was happening in the story was only shown in small excerpts on the page. I wish there was more, I love this story

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sequel to 'The watertower', now an adult, Spike comes back to the town he grew up in and as a scientist, uses his knowledge to test the water. Again, the mystery is more the reader's imagination than explained in the story, and may well leave readers mystified and confused. The images, again drawn by Woolman, both colourful and spooky, don't match the story, which seems odd at first, but adds to the mystery of what the watertower is all about. young children will find this story confusing, and teens will most likely find it puzzling.

[Angel Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing on the first book was better than in the sequel, but the art in the sequel is better than the first book.

The designs and symbols used here are quite effective and cool.

Ps. I appreciate the devil horns on the business man.

[BookieWookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as strong as the original (especially in how the visual medium is used), but is a good continuation of the story, with a feeling of hopelessness as the spread of the water reveals itself. I feel the ending is more ambiguous than some people think, but it definitely feels quite bleak.

[Bart Trzcinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED THE BOOK

[William Brownhill · Rating 5 out of 5]

make free me want read

[Sandra Mackintosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great picture book but is not something that i would read to younger children, the pictures are very dark. So I would recommend for children in years 5 - 6 or older.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten years on from the water tower, just as good. A bit freaky. with no real answers Aqua pura the basis of life. Loved it. Looking Forward to the next one hopefully!

[Georgie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

[Gaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as mind-boggling as the first. The illustrations added to my confusion. Looking forward to reading these books to 5/6.

[Jeff Deez]

SO KOOL

[NRLBULL]

idk let me read