In “Random Accent in sector NoAH 135/56”, AnnElise and Priyanka Makin catapult young readers to the far-flung future: The earth is no longer home to beautiful flowers, majestic trees, green pastures, dense forests and cool spring water. The blue planet has turned into a dull and dark concrete ball wrapped in a heavily polluted atmosphere. There are 12 population centres, each covered with plexi-domes. Feelings as much as sunshine and rainfall are kept under strict control.
Enter Bob and Sandy. He is an ageing and tired, gentle and giant custodian of the universe. She is a little girl who starts crying over a book she unearthed by chance. As Bob rushes to deal with the tabooed emotional outbreak, Sandy causes a mega hiccup in Bob’s routines. Soon, things are getting out of (his) hand(s). For the better or worse?
The only chance to find out is to embark on this bedazzling sci-fi passage through equilibrium treatments, rain on demand and other hi-tech manoeuvres right to the origin of colours. An enjoyable and well-illustrated page-turner – and a gentle reminder to take good care of our blue planet, “because nothing grows on concrete.”
AnnElise Makin & Priyanka Makin, 2021, Random Accident in Sector NoAH 135/56 (Or: The Last Book on Earth), iMakinations BookProShop, ISBN 9798588603492.