Well that's a very nice surprise! My middle-grade dystopia, OCULUM, received a long-listing for the CYBILS awards in the Elementary Speculative Fiction category.
Thank you!
The list is long (hence the name), over 100 books, and although it's largely a U.S. award, there are Canadians on the list with me, notably Kenneth Oppel, Kevin Sylvester, Rachelle Delaney and Wendy Orr (sorry if I missed anyone).
Full List: CYBILS Elementary Speculative Fiction/18
Thank you to my publisher, Dancing Cat Books, for the chance to tell this near-future dystopia that ponders a question for older middle-graders (ages 10-13): what will matter most as humanity rebuilds itself after the fall?
Will it be love? Food? Friendship? Shakespeare? Peaches? Or will it be kindness, community and storytelling? Or something else?
A few readers have described the book as "Cormac McCarthy's The Road for kids", which is interesting. (It's not nearly as disturbing though, honest.)
My favourite character in the book has to be Grannie, who holds fast against poverty, starvation, neglect, and fosters dozens of children at her homestead in the wilderness. She seemed like an important character that we see too rarely in children's books: a brave older woman, holding the world together. I'm pretty happy to see her in print!
For more, here is the publisher's page: OCULUM
Free Teacher's Guide
All posts about OCULUM on THIS BLOG
