Philippa Dowding's Blog - Posts Tagged "oculum-echo"

"A very well-written and an imaginative description of a future world struggling to survive, the story ends on a positive note and a hint, at least to this reader, there could be more to come. This timely book should appeal to both boys and girls in search of adventure. Highly Recommended" CM Magazine, Oct 7/2022

Well it's 5 STARS for OCULUM ECHO, thank you CM Magazine! That's the first review out of the gate, and "Highly Recommended" means a lot.

This book is the sequel to OCULUM, my middle grade dystopia which was nominated for the OLA Silver Birch and the SYRCA Diamond Willow awards. The new book picks up right after the first book ends, and continues to cover themes of pandemic, climate collapse, and war. It also asks us to think about what technology is for, and how we use it.

Yes, I was weirdly prescient with the themes in this series, (the first book in The Children of Oculum series was written in 2015 and published in 2018), but the story is also powerful, redemptive, and has a lovely new character, ECHO1, I can't wait for you to meet!

Here's the entire review on the CM Magazine site: https://www.cmreviews.ca/node/3166

If you're buying books for young readers, check out the CBC Best Kid's Books of 2022 list to help guide your selections. I'm really honoured to say that OCULUM ECHO is included, thank you!

Here are all 28 great Canadian picture books, middle grade, and young adult titles named by the CBC as this year's best: https://www.cbc.ca/books/the-best-can...

If you read one of these titles and love it, please remember to leave a review somewhere! Happy Holidays!

Thank you to the Canadian Children's Book Centre for including my latest novel, OCULUM ECHO, in their Best Books for Kids & Teens, Spring 2023!

That's a really lovely surprise, and means a lot to be recognized in this way. OCULUM ECHO is the sequel to my middle-grade dystopia, OCULUM (DCB, 2018) and deals with themes of climate crisis, pandemic, inequity, and war. While these are serious issues, the book builds on the humour and kindness of the characters established in book one, and is an age-appropriate journey through a future world where kids make changes for the better.

OCULUM ECHO got a 5-star review from CM Magazine, which are pretty rare these days! Thank you to them, too.

For links and more information on the CCBC Best Books and OCULUM ECHO, visit my other blog: https://phdowding.blogspot.com/2023/0...