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Mad Max meets Little House: post-apocalyptic sci-fi for kids
By: Byron P. Spears Jr. (Washington, DC)
The authors of 1984, Mad Max, A Clockwork Orange, Soylent Green, and many other books and scripts create unhappy worlds ruled by Shadowy Evil Conquerors. The norm for the genre is a dark world view, advancing a pessimism that is always compromised because each has a hero and even the coldest of these has something within himself that shines forth a ray of hope, however deeply hidden.
The Seekers is certainly a member of this post-apocalyptic science-fiction genre, but it goes a different way: The tone of hope is right out in the open. And secondly, the book is clearly written with a juvenile audience in mind: the language and content are unobjectionable, and some ordinary extraordinary kids are integral to the story and show heroic mettle without performing incredible feats of strength and agility. If like me you are not technically a kid, you may want to read it before you turn it over to the younger ones, because I expect it will get passed around a bit among them before it gets back to you. And it will not be much of a hardship to do so; at 108 pages it can be knocked off in an afternoon - yet for the record I felt as though I had consumed a novel of much fuller proportion - a happy, satisfied feeling!
Another special characteristic of this book is that the heroes survive not through brute strength and wily combat skills, but through extension of cooperation and knowledge. Survival of the fittest means functioning not like Jason Bourne but like the villagers in The Seven Samurai, with the focus on communal production and preservation of the means of subsistence rather than on the swift destruction of powerful enemies.
Which brings me to another REALLY COOL feature of this book: Some real-life how-to on small-community subsistence living. The back cover says the author was raised on a Montana cattle ranch, and she writes with authority about agriculture, as well as various herbs and other plants. Along with dealing with dreaded enemy seekers (mainly by hiding), those who will survive must plan and execute many daily chores without complaining. Ms. Doll brings Euell Gibbons (Stalking the Wild Asparagus) and Bradford Angier (How to Stay Alive in the Woods) into the ranks of Heloise and Martha Stewart - all in the context of a sci-fi thriller. Note to Stewart Brand: This book should be listed in the Whole Earth Catalog! And the word to the kids is: Do your chores! Society depends on it! I am constrained to invoke Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods . . . . ,
Proffessional Review
By: Tim Johnson
"THE SEEKERS: What if the world as we know it suddenly changed? What would you do? What if the grass ceased to grow, the trees and flowers withered away, and the waters of our planet were almost completely polluted by the very chemicals that we harness? In this thought-provoking tale, author BilliJo Doll, writes about a diverse group of individuals that defy these haunting questions, even while in the face of inevitable adversity. Thieves, marauders, and various deformities lie just beyond the threshold of a virtual Garden of Eden. But the worst threat of all is a military-trained technological society that lives for nothing except to hunt down, enslave, and murder the insignificant inhabitants of mother earth. Is anyone safe...from THE SEEKERS?" ~Tim Johnson, author of TWISTED OAK: Eyes of Discernment
-RELIGIOUS CONTENT: This book is not necessarily meant to be religious. Nevertheless, certain moral and Biblical lessons about "Loving your neighbor" are mentioned throughout the tale.
-ADULT LANGUAGE/CONTENT: With the exception of a couple of mild instances, this story was written for nearly all audiences. Though used in a correct fashion, the word "p_ss" is mentioned once. However, it is the only objectionable word that is mentioned.
-VIOLENT CONTENT: This is fairly mild, and I read nothing that to me would constitute the need for child screening.
-CONCLUSION: This was a different but interesting read for me. Besides the suspense and adventure, BilliJo Doll has incorporated a great deal of educational material in her story as well. I'll just say this, from now on, if I ever get ill from a cold or something worse, then I'll know where to find the cure...THE SEEKERS.