In the year 2368, humanity struggles to recuperate from a technocaust that has left a generation of orphans in its wake. Strict government regulations convince people that technology is dangerous; confusion and fear rule the earth.

Blay Raytee is a government work-camp orphan. Her future seems as bleak as that of the world around her. But when she is chosen for a special mission by a guardian of the environment named Marrella, Blay begins to discover that all may not be as it seems. The secrets she uncovers could hold the key both to the healing of the world and to her own past. What she learns may just empower her to join those who struggle to restore democracy — and to discover at last who she really is.

Master storyteller Janet McNaughton vividly imagines an all-too-believable future where one child's brave search for the truth could restore a broken world.

"McNaughton's (An Earthly Knight) novel, a portrait of a chilly dystopia, eloquently juggles a pair of cautionary messages. In the year 2368, teenage narrator Blay Raytee works in the landfill mines, digging for remnants of the human society that was devastated by a manmade, technology-induced ecological disaster. When Marrella, the new 'bio-indicator' (a person who makes forays into the poisonous atmosphere of the outside), chooses Blay as her assistant, the teen learns that much of what she knows about the world is a lie. McNaughton draws parallels between today's society and this future world; for instance, the 'technocaust' indeed happened, but the ruling party uses its recent threat to control the populace through fear. Blay learns, thanks to a microchip described by the title, that her actual name is Blake Raintree, and her 'Object' (a cassette tape ), which she has clutched from the time she was set on the streets as a toddler, contains the secret of who she is and clues to her parents' identity. The heroine grows more likable as the story moves along and becomes more self-aware and optimistic. The narrative's present tense gives each of Blay's discoveries a sense of immediacy. In addition to the front-and-center allegory on the environment, McNaughton hints at man's willingness to hurt each other en masse through the use of the word 'technocaust' and talk of concentration camps. A thought-provoking novel. Ages 12-up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

This award-winning futuristic tale--a bestseller in Canada--captures a chilling vision of an environmentally scarred Earth in the year 2368, and tells the story of an orphaned teen girl who's chosen for a special mission by a guardian of the environment.

Janet McNaughton has a Ph.D. in folklore and is the award-winning writer of novels for young readers. She lives in St. John's, Newfoundland, with her family.