The Secret Under My Skin
HarperCollins Canada, Harper Collins USA
Once Again Available in Print
The Secret Under My Skin is once again available in print, though on demand printing at HarperCollins warehouses. I hope this will help the many teachers who have been struggling with mismatched editions, or copies that are falling apart. The books may be ordered in Canada via HCOrder@harpercollins.com and in the USA via orders@harpercollins.com
In the year 2368, homeless orphan Blay Raytree lives in a work camp with only fragmentary memories of her past, unsure of her age or even her real name. She is suddenly chosen to assist a young woman who will assume the ceremonial role of bio-indicator, a throwback from a dark past of total environmental degradation. As Blay grows to love and trust her new guardians, her world expands to allow her to discover a sense of self worth, unexpected clues about her past, and a network of new friends who struggle to restore democracy to a recovering world.
Awards
Ruth Schwartz Award, novel category
Mr. Christie Award, Gold Seal
Ann Connor Brimer Award, Nova Scotia Library Association
Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards, Bruneau Family Children’s Literature
Green Earth Book Award, honor book
Why I Wrote This Book
When I started working on The Secret Under My Skin in the late 1990s, climate change wasn’t really on the radar and I wanted to write about how the world might change. I realized this future could seem very bleak to readers so I decided to set my story long after a global environmental disaster. I was also angry because problems I’d assumed were solved, the social safety net for example, seemed threatened, something that is even more true now that it was then. I wanted to explore how bad things could get if we don’t pay attention. Most dystopian books are dark but Blay kept struggling to find her way to a better life and her voice fills the story with hope and energy.
Reviews for The Secret Under My Skin
“Bleak as it sounds, the book is not bleak at all... Love, kindness and the cherishing of the freedoms we have now and the beauty and health of the earth underpin the novel... Yet all of these themes are subordinated to McNaughton’s powerful characterizations and to the haunting story she has woven around them... Secret is a deeply disturbing and yet gripping novel.”
— Canadian Literature
"Blay is a vividly rendered narrator who exposes her own emotional vulnerability, which enhances her heroism. The setting and culture of the book are equally vividly rendered, offering a depth that allows readers to believe fully in its premise. The writing is clear and crisp, evoking a magic that enchants. All of these elements make this one of the top science fiction novels in recent years."
— School Library Journal, *Starred Review*
“The author’s exceptionally subtle prose [is] powered by McNaughton’s deep anger, which comes through all the more effectively for being kept under tight rein. Dark, complex and sophisticated indeed, The Secret Under My Skin is one of the year’s finest children’s novels.”
— Maclean’s Magazine
"The ideas in this book are intriguing but what really makes it work is the quality of the writing. McNaughton has a clear, strong, subtle style."
— Quill & Quire
"McNaughton writes of natural, amazing phenomena with clarity and intensity, creating the vividness and fascination of dreams. This is an exciting and unusual novel, in both its conceits and execution."
— The Toronto Star