Project Mercury
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Ike Pressure is an Army brat.
Which, if you ask him, is not an insult.
His mom’s new job is in Mercury, Nevada, on a secretive military base close to Area 51. What’s more, his childhood friend, Eesha Webb, and her family are about to move there too.
Spoiler alert: Ike and Eesha aren’t really best buds, even though their parents think so. They used to play together when they were little kids, but now she's more like his nemesis.
Still, it’s clear to both of them that something mysterious is happening on the base—but what could it be?
Eesha is convinced it has to do with aliens, but Ike isn’t so sure.
What they don’t know is that the stakes are actually much higher than they could have imagined—and Ike’s mom might be in more danger than she has ever faced. Will Ike and Eesha be able to get over their differences and work together to unravel the secrets of Project Mercury?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Having recently moved to the same military base, two Black former friends work together to unravel a top-secret mission that could spell doom for one of their parents. Thirteen-year-old military kid Ike Pressure prefers video games to playing sports, something that drove a wedge between him and estranged friend Eesha Webb. Following Ike's discovery of strange footprints in a secure area of the Mercury, Nev., military base, and a shortwave radio in his mother's room that transmits mysterious messages, he recruits Eesha—the only other person he knows on the compound—to uncover what Ike's mother has been hiding about her new job. Their efforts are consistently thwarted by enigmatic men in black, authorities who investigate UFOs and aliens. Fearing for his mother's safety, Ike endeavors to do whatever it takes to protect her. The action-driven plot is ripe with suspense and adventure as Ike and Eesha investigate the mystery, encountering myriad unexpected foes along the way. Smith (Where the Black Flowers Bloom) crafts a warm and inviting tale of reimagined futures, friendship, bravery, and environmentalism with a futuristic twist that will have readers rallying behind the intrepid protagonists of this hopeful story. Ages 8–12.
