Futureland: The Architect Games - Hardcover

Hunter, H.D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593479505 ISBN 13: 9780593479506

Verlag: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

Mazes and mind games await in this epic third book about the theme park of your dreams, where Cam Walker goes head-to-head with the villains who have been after Futureland from the start. An electrifying illustrated series for fans of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

"Hold on tight, Futureland will be the ride of your life . . . and maybe the last!" —Kwame Mbalia, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Team Futureland. Their archenemies. A showdown in spectacularly futuristic Egypt.

After Futureland emerges from back-to-back scandals, Cam Walker and his family are ready to confront the people who keep targeting their flying park. A group called the Architects has been after them since Futureland made its Atlanta stop, and the Walkers have had enough.

To settle things, the Architects propose the very first Architect Games, where the Walkers and the Architects will battle in a series of challenges. If the Walkers win, then the Architects will leave them alone once and for all. But if Cam and his family lose, they will lose everything—including Futureland and its prized tech.

The Architects can't be trusted, but Cam doesn't have a choice. If he can lead his team to victory, his family and friends will be free. Otherwise, there's no telling what the Architects will do once they get their hands on Futureland. . . .

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Hugh “H.D.” Hunter is a storyteller, teaching artist, and community organizer from Atlanta. He's also the winner of several indie book awards for multicultural fiction. Hugh is committed to stories about Black kids and their many expansive worlds. He loves vegan snacks, basketball, and stories that make you cry—but make you smile afterward. Check out Hugh's work at thesoutherndistrict.com.

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1

Abracadabra

Sunday, May 30, 2049

10:00 a.m.

You ever forget how bright sunlight is? No?

Well, the reminders aren’t fun.

I rubbed a combination of sleep and sunshine out of my eyes. Then I stood up and finally dragged myself out of my room. I heard Uncle Trey snickering just a few feet away.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.” He slurped from his favorite mug--one that said #1 DAD on the front. Uncle Trey always drank out of my dad’s mug when he wasn’t around. He reached out for a dap. I put my hand in his.

“Yow! What was that?” I jumped back and rubbed my palm. My entire hand tin-gled with the aftershock of the vibration. Uncle Trey doubled over laughing.

“High-voltage handshake buzzer. One of my old pranks. Found it under that pile of dirty clothes in my room. Makes meeting new people a shocking experience.”

I rolled my eyes. He kept laughing, then wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“Hey, did you finish recording your thingamajig? I heard you up late last night working on it.”

I nodded. “Mm-hmm. Finished the New York episode of the official Futureland Mysteries video journal. I can’t wait until I can upload them all.”

Uncle Trey smiled. “Wow. Detective. Genius. Streamer. What can’t the kid do?” He tousled my hair. “Hopefully, you can upload your series ASAP. We’re still invisible for now, but I got a feeling that once we come out of hiding, your mom will be okay with you sharing your videos.”

I shuffled over to the counter and poured myself a glass of orange juice. Mom and Dad hadn’t said much about why we’d been cruising on invisibility mode for so long. They talked about it as a break, a chance for a vacation. But secretly, I won-dered if it had anything to do with the Architects. They’d been on my mind. Where are they? What are they planning to do next?

“Uncle Trey. What if . . . what if we just stayed invisible?” I asked.

Uncle Trey let out a laugh and scratched his beard. “That would be something, wouldn’t it? I mean, can you ever remember Futureland being this fun?”

I knew exactly what Uncle Trey meant. Sure, Futureland was fun every day. We brought joy, excitement, wonder, and imagination to the entire world! But since we left New York and dropped the crew off in Atlanta, we’d been having a ball. Just plain old family fun. The only thing missing was my best friend, Dooley. Some-times I’d look to my side, expecting her to be next to me. Her absence was the biggest reminder that things weren’t like old times. No matter how much fun we were having.

Mom and Dad had engaged the invisibility feature on the park as we made our way around the continent. Camping under the stars in Wyoming. Selfies at Niagara Falls in Ontario. Letting the sounds of smooth jazz lead us through the streets of New Orleans. Every single stop had been a different kind of adventure. A break from all the madness we had to deal with since last August. I never wanted it to end, even though I knew it had to.

“Hey, nephew.” Uncle Trey snapped me out of my juice-fueled daydream. “Can you believe the news is still acting like sad puppies because we’re ‘gone’? Every day there’s another story about how great Futureland was. How much they miss it. They didn’t have that energy when the whole world was blaming us!”

I laughed. “Maybe the world needed a break from us just as much as we needed a break from them. As soon as we left, everything changed, like abracadabra.” I snapped my fingers. “But when we come back . . . maybe everything can finally be how it’s supposed to be.”

“Let’s hope so.” Uncle Trey smiled and gave me a fist bump. I think the bump must have activated my memory.

“Uncle Trey!” I shouted. “We forgot about breakfast!”

He grinned. “Why do you think I’m here? I’ll be your personal escort to the tree house this morning. Your parents are waiting. You ready to ride?”

Me and Uncle Trey raced through the halls, pulling and tugging at one another, laughing all the way. When our Jet-Blur pod came into the station, we hopped in and blasted into the sky, soaring high above all the destinies. The living book trees of the Word Locus danced in the breeze. Each of the planets in Galactic Gallery spun on its axis. The digi-water of Future Ring shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. Our pod swung us wide to the western side of the park and lowered us deep in the rainforest of Future Trek.

Uncle Trey held my hand as we stepped through the jungle. Sunlight broke gently through the canopy and twinkled off the water droplets coating the leaves. When we stopped to wait for the elevator at the base of the tree house, I closed my eyes and listened to the symphony of chirping birds. I breathed in the aroma of the des-tiny--fresh earth, fragrant blossoming flowers, and . . . French toast?!

The elevator let us out at the entrance of the tree house, and I rushed inside to find my parents already standing next to a fully set table.

“Good morning, Cam-Cam!” Mom smiled.

“Right on time, Big Man!” said Dad. “We just set the table.”

I hugged Dad first, and he gave me a big bear squeeze. Mom kissed me on the forehead, like usual, but I didn’t even rub it off this time. I eyed the spread: a stack of Dad’s famous French toast with chocolate chips on the side, eggs, sautéed veg-gies, fresh fruit, yogurt, home fries, veggie sausage, and turkey bacon. Muy deli-cioso.

“Hold hands, everyone. Let’s go around and say what we’re thankful for before we dig in,” said Mom. She took one of my hands and one of Dad’s. Uncle Trey took my other hand.

“I’ll go first,” she started. “I’m thankful for our beautiful family. We have been through so much together. We are strong and resilient. I always believed that--”

“Blah, blah!” interrupted Uncle Trey. “I’m thankful for all this food y’all made, but I’ll be more thankful if I get to eat it sometime today.”

“Trey!” Mom growled. “I ought to whack you.”

“Try it and see what happens.” Uncle Trey stuck his tongue out at Mom. She tried to go after him, but Dad and I held fast to her hands. Dad started speaking to dis-tract Mom.

“As for me--I’m thankful for my amazing wife. I wouldn’t be half the man I am without her. I love you with all my heart, darling.”

Mom’s face softened. “Aww, baby, I love you, too,” she said.

Uncle Trey and I traded glances and held back our laughs. Dad to the rescue, as usual.

“What about you, kid?” Uncle Trey asked. “Best for last.”

I thought hard, wrinkling my brow. “I guess . . . I’m thankful for a lot of things. Mom, Dad, Uncle Trey. My friends. Inaya, Jordan. All the adventures. All the bat-tles that brought us together. Things we overcame, you know? And even though I know we can’t be invisible forever, I’m thankful for this time right now, too. If I’m being honest, there’s only one thing I would change.”

“What’s that, son?” said Dad.

“Well, I just . . . I wish Dooley was here. To be a part of it all, you know?”

Uncle Trey let go of my hand. I watched him turn and rush to the exit of the tree house.

“Uncle Trey? Where ya going?” I called.

“Got something important to...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593479505
• ISBN 13: 9780593479506
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Zeichner: Khatib Khadijah
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Harder; https://www.edel.com; ; Neum�hlen 17; Hamburg; Hamburg; 22763; Deutschland