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.

March 15, 2015
A rebellious street urchin is coerced into driving a race car for an oppressive corporation that rules her planet.Racing's in Phee's blood-she's the daughter of a legendary driver who mysteriously vanished. Her races are different from her father's, though. He raced legitimately on the corporation circuit; she races illegally underground. When a race turns out to be a trap, she's arrested and sentenced to life at a penal colony-unless she agrees to race for Benroyal, the most powerful of the oppressive corporations that maintain their rigid class system. As her best friend, foster brother, and-most importantly-race navigator (pacer), Bear, was also caught, Phee bargains for his sentence to be commuted by joining the team as well. Phee hates being a PR tool and distraction for the evil corporation-and she loathes the pretty dresses and press requirements-but must protect her foster family, especially as she discovers secrets about Benroyal that could get them all killed. The races make for some of the strongest, most compelling writing in the book, so it's too bad that there are so few of them. They're much more entertaining than the love triangle among Phee, Bear, and Phee's new pacer: a handsome, bad-boy prince with secrets. The society and protagonist are standard-issue dystopian, but the intrigue builds into political conspiracies and action-debut author Martin's strength-and a wild climax that begs for a sequel. Genre fans will find that the strong action helps to compensate for flaws. (Dystopian romance. 12 & up)

April 1, 2015

Gr 8 Up-Phoebe Van Zant's mother left her and her father, a legendary street racer, to fend for themselves on the planet Castra when Phee was very young. A few years later, her father mysteriously disappeared, and Phee was taken in by a caring family. Now 17, Phoebe hasn't been able to shake the thrill she also gets from racing, and she is blackmailed into racing for Benroyal, a very powerful corporation. It's not long before she discovers Benroyal's powers reach farther than any corporation should and there are plans for expansion. At the risk of losing her best friend, Bear, she and her new pacer, Cash, work with other undercovers to overthrow the corporation's stronghold on the government and the people of Castra. In this science fiction novel, Martin has fashioned a universe of planets created, built, or otherwise funded by corporations that rule society and the government, although the invented slang can slow readers from understanding it fully. The fast pace continues throughout the story, as races unfold, secrets are revealed, and readers get to know Phoebe, a snarky, strong-willed, female heroine whose ability to read people well is her saving grace. Filled with new technology, political motivations, and action-packed racing scenes, this book will appeal to fans of the Fast and the Furious movies as well as readers of dystopia. VERDICT A good science fiction novel with a likable protagonist.-Stephanie DeVincentis, Downers Grove North High School, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Grades 6-9 Romance, revolution, and auto racingall on distant planetscrank up this high-octane debut. Compelled by a combination of threats and a chance to race on the interstellar circuit, illegal street-racer Phee Van Zant goes to work for King Charlie Benroyal, ruthless head of one of the six Corporations that own the planet Castra. Instantly, she's pinned both in the spotlight of celebrity and in one corner of a steamy romantic triangle, linked with Bear, her closest friend, and her new crew's pacer, Cash, a hunky exiled prince from the neighboring planet. Along with vividly experiencing the raging, sweat-slicked adrenaline rush of high-speed-racing action (transplanted to the future without significant change from racing today), Phee struggles to clarify her conflicting feelingsand also, learning that Benroyal Corp has its dirty fingers deep in both interplanetary politics and the drug trade, joins a clandestine rebellion. Readers will enjoy the way Martin's sparky heroine puts the pedal to the metal, physically and emotionallybut are less likely to be charmed when the tale comes to an abrupt close, with the finish line one or more sequels away.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)