Tracked

March 23, 2015
As a street racer on the planet Castra, 17-year-old Phoebe “Phee” Van Zant has built a reputation that has reached the stratosphere of corrupt corporate sponsors on the licensed racing circuit. Though capable of meticulous race-time strategy, Phee doesn’t see even one step ahead in her life, going down in a spectacle of futile last-minute bravado when the corporate overlords decide to draft her. Cashoman “Cash” Dradha is the renegade prince of an allied planet, who hides from his rage at the card table. Beautiful, brash, and heedless of consequences, Phee and Cash pair up to dominate the track and take it down. Martin’s debut novel is a touch heavy on the anticorporate sermons and a touch geeky about cars—unchanged in curious ways some 350 years into the future, like the six-point safety harnesses on Phee’s beloved Talon. But it’s a wholehearted adrenaline rush when it comes to the thrill of the run, making it easy to get drawn into a fast-paced, high-stakes story. Ages 12–up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Harvey Klinger.