Jo Hart

The Jindabyne Secret Jo Hart

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.