Reviews

Moojag and the Auticode Secret by N.E. McMorran

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emtees's review

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Moojag and the Auticode Secret is a fun children’s book that has a lot of the wacky, creative and colorful nature of a Lewis Carroll or Roald Dahl novel, but with a kinder, more sensitive tone. If you like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Alice in Wonderland but wish they had a more diverse cast, less cruelty towards those who are different, and an openness to a variety of neurotypes, this is a book you’ll enjoy.

The Moojag series takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, but rather than destroying society, the climate change that flooded Great Britain has resulted in a utopia, at least in the area of the Surrey Islands, where a community dominated by autistic people has grown up. Here, everyone wears a PIE, a full body suit that helps them regulate their sensory reactions and reminds them of things like the need to eat and sleep while also granting access to a communications and knowledge network. Children learn in whatever way is best for them and all ways of thinking are respected. But not everywhere in the world is so accepting, and when Nema and her friends are approached by the mysterious Moojag, who gives them a series of clues that lead them to the underground realm of Gajoomdom, they discover a real post-apocalyptic world, very different from their own. In Gajoomdom, the wealthy capitalists of the old world continue on, their lavish lifestyles supported by trapped autistic children and a whole community of… I guess you’d call them artificial lifeforms that resemble sentient candy? Nema and her friends don’t understand why they’ve been summoned to Gajoomdom, but as their adventure continues, it becomes clear that the freedom of the underground world’s prisoners is in their hands, so long as they can find the Auticode, the means of stopping the gajoom from evolving into a force that will threaten the entire world.

Every main character in this book is neurodivergent, which is right away the most striking thing about the book. McMorran is handling a lot of themes in this series, but the most important is that autistic and other neurodivergent people are capable of incredible things if allowed to live in a world that fits them. Nema and her friends come from a world where the way their brains and bodies work has always been accommodated, and so while they think of themselves as neurodivergent, they don’t view this as a disability; between their accepting culture and PIE, a miracle device for regulating temperature, noise, and other sensory challenges, they don’t struggle with their conditions. This sets them in contrast with the autistic children they meet in Gajoomdom, who, while also incredibly capable - they’ve basically created artificial intelligence - still live in a world where accommodating them means limiting them, and where they are exploited for their skills and disdained for their differences. The history of Gajoomdom is one that allows McMorran to make a lot of pointed statements about the education and press for a “cure” for autistic children, contrasted against an accepting neurodivergent model. Some people might not be totally comfortable with the way this book heavily emphasizes a social model look at autism or simplifies some of the struggles autistic people face, but for children looking for a book where people like them are accepted and can be heroes, this one fits the bill.

The story itself is wildly creative. Gajoomdom is like an explosion of unique ideas; each chapter expands on the world in more and more fantastical ways. The fact that it is a world essentially made of candy is an interesting one; this both allows McMorran to create an entire world that will appeal to child readers - who doesn’t want constant access to as much candy as they can eat - while also allowing her to make subtle commentary about healthy food habits and the problem of artificial food ingredients. This fits with the larger themes of consumption and materialism that McMorran is introducing at a kid’s level; the old world, aka our world, was one of excess consumption and greed and was destroyed because of it, while the new world, aka the Real World, as the children call it, is one where everyone has what they need precisely because no one is hoarding more than that. It’s a really great way to introduce these ideas to kids and get them thinking about what is enjoyable (the occasional sweet treat) versus what is greed.

Unfortunately, there are a few ideas woven into this book that I was less happy to see. While the fatphobia in this book is nothing like you would find in Dahl, or even, say, J.K. Rowling - here fat characters are very much victims of a world that has only provided them with artificial, sugar-dense foods and deliberately gotten them addicted - there is still a sense of value placed on weight that might be difficult for some children to read. And in the backstory of Gajoomdom

is a story of experimentation on disabled children, and while the use of autistic kids in this part of the story is rightfully decried, there doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as much anger or sympathy for the physically disabled children who also underwent experiments; in fact, having introduced the idea of physically disabled kids into the story, rather than finding ways to also accommodate them, we learn that they’ve all been transformed into winged creatures who are no longer dependent on mobility devices. Considering how the book ended, this may change in the future, but for now I was left with the sense that McMorran cared more about creating an image of autistic kids as not disabled rather than creating a world that accommodates everyone’s needs.

Content Warnings

awesomebrandi's review against another edition

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3.0

Moojag and the Auticode Secret is a middle grade fantasy novel written by an Actually Autistic author that centers around two main groups of Autistic youth. One group lives in a post 'surge' world where being neurodivergent is accepted, supported and celebrated. The other group has been trapped by a group of bad guys, who wants to take over the 'Real World' where the celebrated Autistic people live.

This is an immensely creative book. Lots of unique fantasy inspired ideas, around how one might support an Autistic person's mental and physical needs. They created a very interesting utopia type world with the 'Real World' for the happy Autistic people. I love seeing the imagination at work there.

There was a pretty wide range of Autistic representation here, including nonspeaking characters. It was very strong in it's pro-neurodiversity message, and how Autistic people should be supported to be their best selves. I also liked that it says Autistic people don't have to be the stereotype of just technology focused, like the media often portrays. So, as far as a book that celebrates being Autistic, this definitely has a clear message as far as that goes.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the focus on food and how it divides it into 'real food' aka 'good food' and 'fake food'. I am all about eating 'healthy' when you can, but considering how many Autistic people struggle with food aversions, and shame about eating, it was surprising to see a book focused on Autistic people have such a strong message about food. I feel like it has the potential to make people with food challenges feel bad about themselves.

The other thing that stood out to me as something that could have used editing, was multiple references about body size/shape that were on the negative side. The worst was the term 'man boobs', which is problematic on many levels including fatphobic and transphobic. I was pretty disappointed to see that included.

Hopefully, with some time and additional experience, the author can continue to create books that are positive Autistic representation with a few less problematic aspects. I will continue to keep my eye on what they do.

leaflit's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Really bizarre little book. The overall message and representation is really good. Aside from that, I struggled with it. I am much older than the target audience which I think contributed to me having a hard time getting into it. Writing is very straightforward but I still found the story itself hard to follow at times. There is just so much bizarre going on and not enough familiar and jumping around to so many different characters and suddenly going through portals to new places. I read in one review that the text version has maps and I think that might have been helpful to reference when listening to the audio version. I did appreciate having a whole cast of voice actors to help with differentiating characters.

I won this book from a StoryGraph giveaway.

Content Warnings

aeonidon's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

jecinwv's review

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4.0

MooJag and the Auticode Secret was sent to me by the publisher, a small press that publishes works by neurodivergent authors. This book is perfect for middle grade readers. MooJag follows a group of kids who live in the future. These kids don't have access to sugar but they do have access to high tech devices that help keep them well and safe. The kids meet MooJag, a mysterious person who leads them on a quest to a secret location where kids are being taken advantage of and must be rescued. The author has autism and based MooJag of off bedtime stories her parents would tell her. MooJag features a protagonist and several side characters with autism. MooJag can be a dark book but I think it raises a lot of good questions about societal advancement. CW for ableism and anti-autism chats on behalf of some of the villians in the book. I read this book for Disability Book Week.