The Jump
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From the acclaimed author of SLAY and The Cost of Knowing comes an action-driven, high-octane “thrill ride” (Kirkus Reviews) about a group of working-class teens in Seattle who join a dangerous scavenger hunt with a prize that can save their families and community.
Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs.
Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own specialty: Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes.
So when The Order, a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Four Seattle teens team up to take down a powerful multinational enterprise that threatens their livelihoods in this ambitious tech-driven mystery by Morris (The Cost of Knowing). Black teenager Jax is the leader of Team Jericho, a group of ingenious scavenger hunt enthusiasts passionate about solving the cryptology riddles posted to online urban exploration forums. When the Order, an infamous organization of anarchist crypto-vigilantes "bent on bringing justice to the untouchable elite," serendipitously devises a challenge to recruit new members, Jax convinces his team to participate. He hopes that joining the Order will provide them the resources to stop Roundworld, a megacorporation whose growing presence threatens marginalized communities across Seattle. But each new clue, and the appearance of ruthless rivals, complicates the team's mission. And as the teens uncover more about the Order, they begin questioning whether the institution is everything it seems. Morris intersperses a middling mystery plot with affecting personal drama, notably sketching a warm, supportive neighborhood caught in the undertow of gentrification. Propulsive action scenes thrill, but it's the complex, impressively drawn characters, their individual motivations, and their unwavering loyalty to each other that steal the show. Ages 12–up.
