Rachel Morrisroe’s new novel Felix and the Future Agency, beautifully illustrated by Paddy Donnelly is a celebration.
Within these pages, like Felix, readers will find themselves whisked into a magical world where operating outside the box is always the answer.
Rachel has very kindly written for us about the magic of neurodiversity and how ADHD and Dyslexia feature in her novel…
– Zephyr Winterstone, Head of the Future Agency
Hands up if you or a young person you know has ever felt out of place in the academic system? My guess is that most readers will have a hand in the air! Both of my boys are dyslexic and although they are two of the kindest, most creative and intelligent people I know, they constantly struggle at school. They are brilliant square pegs working desperately hard to fit into a round hole. My husband and I, along with their amazing teachers do everything we can to support them and champion their strengths (of which there are very many) but still, lessons are tough. Feeling like you are failing, day in and day out, through the formative years of your childhood is hard on your confidence. It’s no fun having to remember what a fronted adverbial is when you can’t even spell it.
Like many young people, my boys are stuck in a system which does not favour them but in Felix and the Future Agency, I wanted to create a world where they and other neurodiverse children would feel totally at home. A world where neurodiversity is sought after and celebrated. A world where it is valued as the shining strength that it truly is. A world where neurodiversity is magic.
Welcome to the Future Agency, a top-secret government department, hidden away in the disused service tunnels of the London Underground. Inspired by the real-life Premonitions Bureau that was set up to capture people’s premonitions in the 1960’s, the agents who work at the Future Agency are called seers – folks who have the ability to predict the future to prevent crime and disasters.
On the Buckingham Palace Line, skills demonstrated by neurodiverse folks are highly sought after. Daydreaming, for example is an essential power to be mastered if you are to become a certified Dream Weaver. And by the way, daydreams nest in areas where imagination is highest, like schools and libraries, so next time you get told off for daydreaming you can blame the dreams! The Magic Mile is filled with sensory wonders – the entire tube line is enchanted so that the night sky illuminates the stations with stars. Astrologists can conjure the animal constellations down from the night sky so you might bump into a sparkling Canis Major or a dazzling Leo Minor.
Of course, my main character had to be neurodiverse! I can’t wait for you to meet Felix Green who is dyslexic and struggled in school, yet at the Future Agency he excels at the youngest Spirit Speaker in the Agency’s history. You’ll also meet Lydia Amaechi, a Blue Moon (someone who is expert in all magical specialisms) who, like me, has ADHD.
I truly believe that if I didn’t have ADHD, Felix and the Future Agency would not exist. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I don’t think I’d be an author without it. I hope that every neurodiverse person who reads Felix will feel validated and empowered and utterly magical. As I have learned first-hand, sometimes your time to shine comes after school.
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Many thanks to Rachel for introducing us to the wonderful world of the Future Agency. You can read more about Felix and the Future Agency below along with a couple of other titles that have neurodiverse lead characters.
