Echo nova

Dashiell Keane, a poor teenager from the Dregs, races across rooftops for stream views. When he saves a fellow racer from plunging to her death, his manager fires him. Left without work and seeking an opportunity to provide his disabled brother cutting-edge treatment, Dash becomes a timestar, a celebrity who travels the timestream to battle people of the past known as echoes. Dash's adventures take him from the dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period to the samurai of feudal Japan, and from the cowboys of the Wild West to the corrupt corporate gods of El Dorado. As Dash's prestige increases, he struggles to reconcile his innate compassion for the echoes and the deadly consequences of his battles in the timenet. His story concludes with several stunning revelations about the nature of the timenet and Dash's true identity. Clint's ambitious second novel speaks to young readers who imagine futures of fame and fortune as the pinnacle of success, and while he adeptly illustrates the allure of those lifestyles, he stresses what is so often lost in exchange.

A financially struggling teen living in a dystopian future dreams of becoming a star in this adrenaline-fueled adventure by Hall (Steal Fire from the Gods). Much to Dash Keane's chagrin, he can't afford to take advantage of the method of time travel, developed by tech companies, that doesn't affect the present. To earn cash, he participates in rooftop races in which wealthy citizens bet on him to win. Dash is the best rooftop racer in Azariah, but after he pulls a dangerous stunt, he's banned from competing. Then he's scouted by entertainment mogul Mr. Myrtrym, who sends Dash to the Cretaceous period to take part in a deadly game. After a video of his dinosaur race goes viral, he becomes a time-traveling sensation, earning enough money to pay for life-saving medicine for his ill younger brother. But when Mr. Myrtrym tasks Dash with assassinating echoes--people living in the past--Dash endeavors to uncover the secrets behind his employer's schemes. While the emotional stakes are low and several plot points are underdeveloped, Hall's energetic prose immediately pulls readers into the action, resulting in a high-octane romp that delivers thrills and chills aplenty. Main characters cue as white. Ages 13--up. (Jan.)