What an honour to see my latest book, OCULUM ECHO, noted in the Canadian Children's Book Centre's BEST BOOKS 2023, thank you! You'll find the review in the Spring 2023 edition.
This book is the sequel to my middle-grade dystopia, OCULUM, which was nominated for the OLA Silver Birch award and the SYRCA Diamond Willow award, thank you to those nominating committees. The series is called The Children of Oculum.
It takes courage and skill to write a speculative dystopia for children, to explore big issues in an age-appropriate way. I think Lois Lowry's The Giver does that well, so do books like Ender's Game and even the first dystopia I ever read, The White Mountains (by John Christopher, a bit dated but still relevant). You probably have your own favourite middle-grade dystopia, and if so, please send me a line and share it with me.
OCULUM ECHO has had terrific reviews (including this 5-star review in CM magazine), and has been well-received, also getting the CBC nod for The Best Books for Kids in 2022. The book is relevant, close to what is happening in the world right now. I think that's our job as children's authors: to tell the truth, to be honest in an age-appropriate way, to get the next generation to think about the world we live in, and the world they'd like to create.
The story has a non-binary AI, Echo1, a sweet amalgam of all my SF influences, from Frankenstein's creature to TNG's Data, Martha Wells' Murderbot, even ChatGPT and more. The book also further explores the themes of climate collapse, pandemic, and privilege from the first book. That book, OCULUM, was published in 2018 and written in 2015, long before many took the climate crisis very seriously or had ever heard of COVID19.
In another stroke of prescience (and what are writers if not futurists?), in OCULUM ECHO I also included a warlike group called the UnRuly, who have found an ancient weapon but have no idea of its power. Again, I wrote this book mostly in 2020 and 2021, long before the latest war erupted in Europe. Will there always be war? Maybe. Was it a stretch to create this element of the story? Not really, looking at our recent and distant history.
I think children need this book right now, and other well-written dystopian books like it. They need funny books, and scary books, and light-hearted books too, but they also need someone to guide them through some of the big issues with characters they trust. I hope Miranda1, Echo1, and Mannfred are those voices, offering guidance, courage, and hope to the next generation of readers.
There is a third book in the series, OCULUM SCRIBE, the end of the trilogy. The first draft is finished, so stay tuned!
