The Jindabyne Secret

Winner of the 2019 'Best Young Adult Short Story' Aurealis Award




The Rise has flooded Australia's coastal areas... but life isn't any easier inland.

With nothing but a map and a rickety solar truck, Jax journeys to a top-secret government facility at Lake Jindabyne-one of the few freshwater lakes left in Australia.

Outraged by the injustice of these people having excess water while his family suffers from dehydration, Jax hatches a plan. At first he starts small-stealing just enough water to ease the parched tongues back home-but with each trip the risks he takes become greater. It is only a matter of time before he gets caught. And the penalty for hydro-theft is death.