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A review by bardicbramley
Moojag and the Auticode Secret by N.E. McMorran
3.0
Firstly, I was reached out to by the lovely author of this book, who graciously sent me a free Advanced Reader Copy for me to review.
I want to start by saying that I am so so happy that this book exists. We desperately need more books like this! Especially with everything going on at the moment (I'm looking at you S.A.M). A wholesome, caring, own voice story, written specifically with the intention of celebrating autistic children is exactly what I wanted to read.
At no point in this book was autism equated to being a burden or missing a puzzle piece, only as unique individuals with skills and strengths that might not always be considered the norm. The descriptions and explanations behind the SuperAuts behaviours and reactions were refreshing: child friendly, realistic, and absolutely perfect for explaining how autism works to neurotypical children.
In addition to that, McMorran took it just that extra step further. Every autistic character was different. None of that stereotyped singular autistic person who doesn't understand the joke, hates socialising and can't read emotions. There was a whole range of representation of characteristics, expanding far beyond (but also including) all of the traits above.
Aside from this, there were other elements of the book I similarly adored:
I loved the child friendly post-apocalyptic vibes that left space for questioning what exactly happened to the world we know now and ponder on why it might have changed?
I loved the abundance of random but well integrated fun facts and learning points.
I loved the inclusion of maps to give some imagery to the journey our characters go on, and the land they find.
And I loved the love, empathy and care in McMorran words that shine through in every characters voice (besides our bad guys of course).
There were of course elements I liked less. And to best explain them, I think I should set the scene for you a little.
I described the feel of this story to my wife as a mix of Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and the Wizard of Oz (the latter of which is actually mentioned in the book itself). It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where society has changed immensely. The humans that are left (the Real Worlders) wear artificial skin suits called PIE that are basically super computers, helping them to control their temperature, search for information, know what they need to eat, sleep, and help reuse their waste products. But the best part, is that everyone is accepted for who they are, and diversity is the new norm.
I found that certain elements of the technology and Real Worlder language was difficult to follow at times, and often a little confusing for me. Although the world and concept itself was great to immerse myself in, I felt that it could have been explained a little clearer. It is written in a style that lets the reader pick up knowledge and understanding along the way (similar to the writing style of Alice in Wonderland which I also had a little trouble with), but in my opinion, a deeper, longer and fuller explanation of the world close to the beginning of the book would have been worthwhile, in order to fully immerse myself into this new world order, before then going off to explore another unfamiliar world with the main characters.
I also found the narrative a little tricky to follow. There is more than one narrator used to tell the story, which in some ways offers wonderful insights and information to the story that we would otherwise not necessarily know. However for me, it was just a little too much, and I got a bit tangled on occasion between which narrator was giving their insight when.
Overall, I think this book, and this author, have so much potential! I couldn't quite justify giving it a higher rating due to the difficulties I had with the narrative and reading, but the story itself is Great. The intention, morals, characters and imagination are all there, and I cannot wait to see what else McMorran creates in the future.
I want to start by saying that I am so so happy that this book exists. We desperately need more books like this! Especially with everything going on at the moment (I'm looking at you S.A.M). A wholesome, caring, own voice story, written specifically with the intention of celebrating autistic children is exactly what I wanted to read.
At no point in this book was autism equated to being a burden or missing a puzzle piece, only as unique individuals with skills and strengths that might not always be considered the norm. The descriptions and explanations behind the SuperAuts behaviours and reactions were refreshing: child friendly, realistic, and absolutely perfect for explaining how autism works to neurotypical children.
In addition to that, McMorran took it just that extra step further. Every autistic character was different. None of that stereotyped singular autistic person who doesn't understand the joke, hates socialising and can't read emotions. There was a whole range of representation of characteristics, expanding far beyond (but also including) all of the traits above.
Aside from this, there were other elements of the book I similarly adored:
I loved the child friendly post-apocalyptic vibes that left space for questioning what exactly happened to the world we know now and ponder on why it might have changed?
I loved the abundance of random but well integrated fun facts and learning points.
I loved the inclusion of maps to give some imagery to the journey our characters go on, and the land they find.
And I loved the love, empathy and care in McMorran words that shine through in every characters voice (besides our bad guys of course).
There were of course elements I liked less. And to best explain them, I think I should set the scene for you a little.
I described the feel of this story to my wife as a mix of Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and the Wizard of Oz (the latter of which is actually mentioned in the book itself). It is set in a post-apocalyptic world where society has changed immensely. The humans that are left (the Real Worlders) wear artificial skin suits called PIE that are basically super computers, helping them to control their temperature, search for information, know what they need to eat, sleep, and help reuse their waste products. But the best part, is that everyone is accepted for who they are, and diversity is the new norm.
I found that certain elements of the technology and Real Worlder language was difficult to follow at times, and often a little confusing for me. Although the world and concept itself was great to immerse myself in, I felt that it could have been explained a little clearer. It is written in a style that lets the reader pick up knowledge and understanding along the way (similar to the writing style of Alice in Wonderland which I also had a little trouble with), but in my opinion, a deeper, longer and fuller explanation of the world close to the beginning of the book would have been worthwhile, in order to fully immerse myself into this new world order, before then going off to explore another unfamiliar world with the main characters.
I also found the narrative a little tricky to follow. There is more than one narrator used to tell the story, which in some ways offers wonderful insights and information to the story that we would otherwise not necessarily know. However for me, it was just a little too much, and I got a bit tangled on occasion between which narrator was giving their insight when.
Overall, I think this book, and this author, have so much potential! I couldn't quite justify giving it a higher rating due to the difficulties I had with the narrative and reading, but the story itself is Great. The intention, morals, characters and imagination are all there, and I cannot wait to see what else McMorran creates in the future.