The Secret Under My Skin

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

After three successful young-adult historical fiction books, McNaughton
switches genres. This science-fiction novel, which follows the H.G.
Wells sci-fi school of social criticism, takes readers into the middle
of the 24th century, a period when the world is slowly recovering from
the Dark Times and the technocaust. The former term describes the 22nd
century when, as a result of a global ecocrisis, the earth’s depleted
ozone layer could no longer provide protection from the sun’s harmful
rays and people not wearing special clothing could safely venture out
only at night.

In the 24th century, technology became the causal scapegoat for the
Dark Times and, during the technocaust, those linked with its creation
were sent to concentration camps. In the Dark Times, governments, now
called the Commission, were given increasing powers by a panicked
population—powers the Commission is now unwilling to surrender.
Quietly opposing the Commission are the Way, those who became dedicated
to preserving knowledge after the universities were closed, and the
Weavers’ Guilds, women who embraced old technologies while keeping
alive the concept of democracy.

In a clever stylistic device, McNaughton begins the book by introducing
Marrella, almost 17, who has been selected to become the community’s
next bio-indicator, a role linked to both the Way and the Guilds. During
the Dark Times, bio-indicators—people with special sensitivities to
toxins in the environment—were repeatedly exposed to assure the
population that toxicity levels were declining. In the second chapter,
however, McNaughton switches narrators, introducing Blay Raytee, a
resident of the local orphanage/workcamp and the person Marrella selects
to assist her in preparing for her new role. Soon readers come to learn
that the “secret” under Blay’s skin is a micro-dot that, when
decoded, reveals Blay’s/Blake’s true identity and her link to the
technocaust.

Although The Secret Under My Skin is a more demanding read than the
typical teen novel, socially conscious adolescents will be rewarded and
intrigued by the many issues the book’s themes evoke. Highly
recommended.