*Silver medal winner in the ‘Middle Grades Fiction’ category of the Nautilus Book Awards 2015*
Astie has always been different. Her 12th birthday is looming and she still has not decided on her thesis. All the Learners at the Hub picked theirs years ago. If it wasn’t for her cousin, Jakob, life would be unbearable on Elemental Island. On the verge of being diagnosed with Social Syndrome, she stumbles upon Danny who has landed in a forbidden flight machine. To protect him, Astie persuades Jakob to tamper with the Overseer’s memory. On the run from the Monitors together, Astie calls on her unique qualities to forge a friendship with the stranger and discover his reason for coming to the island. What she finds will shake the foundations of the place she calls home.
Set on a secretive island utopia where science and logic rule, this intriguing novel explores and celebrates differences in people from an alternative perspective. It is engaging reading for children aged 8-13.
Astie has always been different. Her 12th birthday is looming and she still has not decided on her thesis. All the Learners at the Hub picked theirs years ago. If it wasn’t for her cousin, Jakob, life would be unbearable on Elemental Island. On the verge of being diagnosed with Social Syndrome, she stumbles upon Danny who has landed in a forbidden flight machine. To protect him, Astie persuades Jakob to tamper with the Overseer’s memory. On the run from the Monitors together, Astie calls on her unique qualities to forge a friendship with the stranger and discover his reason for coming to the island. What she finds will shake the foundations of the place she calls home.
Set on a secretive island utopia where science and logic rule, this intriguing novel explores and celebrates differences in people from an alternative perspective. It is engaging reading for children aged 8-13.
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Reviews
I read many manuscripts, but very occasionally, there is one that totally captivates me and that is the case with Elemental Island. I have absorbed every word with great pleasure, a delicious meal that needs to be savoured and cannot be hurried...The exciting and humorous storyline will captivate the reader and also change and enhance our perception and understanding of the challenges faced by those who have an ASD. Fiction can create a paradigm shift more effectively than facts.
The illuminating adventure of a misfit in a world where autism is so ordinary there isn't even a word for it. Elemental Island is thought-provoking, compassionate and recommended for readers of all ages, with or without 'Social Syndrome'.
This is a great book for people who have Aspergers because it creates characters and a world that feel real and are easy to relate to. It's also just a great book. So buy it!
This long and meaty sci-fi novel is full of imagination and interest, and its reversal of 'normality' means that readers with Asperger's will be able to relate happily to the majority of people on Elemental Island...a thought-provoking novel with lots to commend it, and it will be of real value to all those who feel themselves to be outsiders.
This quick futuristic tale encourages autistic and neurotypical readers alike to venture beyond their comfort zones.