Amarin begins the tour by introducing the students to a capybara. It's one of the zoos last living animals, so the children's requests to pet it have to be declined. It's old and frail, too easily hurt. The kids relent reluctantly, instead pressing against the glass and waving. Impatience pulls some away to other exhibits.

They're peacefully ogling at other animals when someone screams. They're recoiling from the pigeon exhibition. A bird has paused in flight, wings frozen mid-flap, its beak buried in soil.

"It's dead!"

This proclamation garners the attention of the students and they begin to crowd. Tears gather in their eyes as they ask what's wrong with the bird, if it's really dead. He quickly reassures them, hurrying to the tiger enclosure with promises to explain once they're there.

When they do arrive, the kids are too busy marveling at the exhibit to remember their despair. The metallic skeletons prowling the area are far more enthralling. Amarin explains anyway, for the few children looking at him with worry. "The pigeon wasn't dead, it's like these guys! There's just some issues we need to fix."

"Can they die if there are too many problems?"

Amarin smiles and shakes his head. "No extinction with these guys. They'll be around forever," he promises. Any complication can be fixed easily. Jagged movements can always be fixed with code, squeaky joints oiled, rusted claws replaced with new ones. These animals will never die, he swears it.

Most of them are satisfied with this, but one girl stays behind. She avoids eye contact, shuffling her feet before asking, "What about the capybara? It'll be here too?"

This time, his grin is delayed. He knows that the animal is nearing the end of its lifespan, robotic replacement already ordered.

"Of course! And maybe if you're really good next visit, I'll let you pet it!"

She smiles wide at this, bouncing off to rejoin her friends while Amarin wrings his fingers and rethinks his answer. It's not like he had another choice, he's just an employee. He shouldn't be the one to tell a 7-year-old that their favourite animal won't be alive next time because of mistakes made by long dead generations. Besides, she's not here for a history lesson.

Watching the girl talk animatedly, he shrugs off the discomfort. By the time they get to the lions, she'll have forgotten about this anyway.

CBC Books asked students to give us a glimpse of the great Canadian novel of the year 2174. They wrote the first page of a book set 150 years in the future, with the protagonist facing an issue that's topical today and set the scene for how it's all playing out in a century and a half.

Two winning entries — one from the Grades 7 to 9 category and one from the Grades 10 to 12 category — will be chosen by middle-grade author Basil Sylvester.

They are the co-author of the middle-grade novel The Fabulous Zed Watson and the recently published second book in the series, Night of the Living Zed.

Both winners will receive a one-year subscription to OwlCrate, which sends fresh boxes of books to young readers across Canada on a monthly basis. In addition, each winners' school libraries will receive 50 free YA books.

Last year's winners were Christian A. Yiouroukis for his story Where the Maple Leaf Grows and Bee Lang for their story One Question.

The winner will be announced on CBC Books on June 12, 2024.