Cyber Plague — Clark Rich Burbidge

The fourth book in the popular YA adventure series, StarPassage, is a thrilling, non-stop odyssey across time. Mike Hernandez and the Coleman twins return, but just when the friends think they have the Star of Passage, it's riddles, and Orion's Belt figured out, they discover a new relic. All of Tim and Martie's rules are tossed aside when Tocho, a member of the Native American Shoshoni tribe which roamed the Rocky Mountains, knocks on Callie and Courtney's Astoria, Oregon, door with the mysterious Star of Hope. The new relic has the shocking ability to transport the teens forward in time, where cartels and gangs are a rising threat and technology has advanced so far that computer viruses affect humans creating a unique look at a dystopian apocalyptic future. As Mike, Callie, Courtney, and Tocho struggle to remain free of the artificially intelligent virus, they also must dodge the shadowy Trackers, those wicked souls who are doomed to haunt history and desire the relics to free themselves from their eternal prison.  The teens find themselves racing to save a possible future, but can they change it for the better? Award-winning storyteller Clark R. Burbidge's latest addition to the StarPassage series, StarPassage: Cyber Plague will inspire you to pave the way for a brighter tomorrow. TALKING POINTS:How youth can make a difference and why it is worth the effortHow working together as a team (whether family, work, or with friends) benefits everyoneArtificial Intelligence and advancing technology's impact on children growing up in the present as well as how it is shaping the futureHow COVID-19 and future possible pandemics affected children's imaginations, mental health, and livesHealing through fiction: five ways children can emotionally benefit from reading and how the monsters and trials in literature and our lives can be tools to help us succeedTips for not giving up, even when the outlook seems hopeless