Cydonia

Middle school is finally over, and Milo is probably going to be dead in five years or less. Like all new students at the Cydonia Institute, a boarding school deep in the Allegheny Mountains, Milo has a unique medical disorder that shortens his lifespan dramatically. But why do his teachers and doctors seem to understand so little about this mysterious illness? And why, too, do Milo’s classmates start falling ill sooner than they should—some of them never coming back?

Once at Cydonia, when Milo isn’t studying or playing sports, he’s in the computer lab, looking for answers in the school’s virtual reality interface. One day, while searching for information on everyone’s condition, Milo meets a strange AI hologram named Quincy who seems to have the answers he seeks. Teaming up with Quincy and his closest friends, who are all determined to unravel the mystery of the Institute, Milo sets out on a path toward the truth, which is more sinister and complex than anyone at Cydonia could have imagined.

Cydonia is a novel for middle-grade/young adult readers set in a near-future that is becoming all too real even as we speak. The first in a proposed series exploring technology, identity, and politics in a post-genetic world, Cydonia is currently under consideration for representation. For more information (or, if you are an agent, to obtain a sample), please get in touch via the Contact page.