Brittney Morris joins the blog this week to chat about her latest young adult novel, The Jump
Author Name: Brittney Morris
Book Title: The Jump
Book Genre: YA
Release Date: March 7, 2024
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Welcome, Brittney! How would you describe The Jump?
The Jump is National Treasure if you replace Nicolas Cage with four teens solving a cryptology puzzle to take down an oil refinery being built in their neighborhood.
What drew you to young-adult fiction?
I love writing about characters who are at a crossroads in their life, and the 12-18 age range is almost always exactly that. It’s a unique time in life when you’re taking all of the knowledge you’ve been fed about the world since infancy, compiling that into a worldview, and then comparing that worldview against what you’re observing about the world with your own eyes. That, in turn, births a whole new worldview, which sometimes bumps against those of your peers, your parents, your friends, and even your crushes, which makes for immaculate story conflict!
Fill in the blank: Readers who liked _____(Book Title)____will also like The Jump.
Hunger Games, Ace of Spades, and The Marvelous!
What are your interests outside of writing and reading?
I have a whole collection of interests – travel, cooking, geeky stuff, bar trivia, niche medical disaster facts, my 16 houseplants, and probably my favorite hobby of all third to writing and reading: video games.
Are you working on a new project? Please tell us about it.
I’m working on a new title called This Book Might Be About Zinnia, about a girl who picks up a bestselling novel, and it sounds like it’s written about her!
Where can readers find you?
Website: authorbrittneymorris.com
Twitter & Insta: @ BrittneyMMorris
Thank you, Brittney! The Jump comes out on March 7.
The Jump
From the acclaimed author of SLAY and The Cost of Knowing comes an action-driven, high-octane “thrill ride” (Kirkus Reviews) about a group of working-class teens in Seattle who join a dangerous scavenger hunt with a prize that can save their families and community.
Influence is power. Power creates change. And change is exactly what Team Jericho needs.
Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han are the four cornerstones of Team Jericho, the best scavenger hunting team in all of Seattle. Each has their own specialty: Jax, the puzzler; Yas, the parkourist; Spider, the hacker; and Han, the cartographer. But now with an oil refinery being built right in their backyard, each also has their own problems. Their families are at risk of losing their jobs, their communities, and their homes.
So when The Order, a mysterious vigilante organization, hijacks the scavenger hunting forum and concocts a puzzle of its own, promising a reward of influence, Team Jericho sees it as the chance of a lifetime. If they win this game, they could change their families’ fates and save the city they love so much. But with an opposing team hot on their heels, it’s going to take more than street smarts to outwit their rivals.
Author bio:
Brittney Morris is the bestselling author of SLAY, The Cost of Knowing, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Wings of Fury, and The Jump. She also writes video games and has contributed to projects such as The Lost Legends of Redwall, Subnautica: Below Zero, Spider-Man 2 for PS5, and Wolverine for PS5. Brittney is an NAACP Image Award nominee, an ALA Black Caucus Youth Literary Award winner, and an Ignite Award Finalist. She has an economics degree from Boston University and spends her spare time reading, playing video games, and not doing enough yoga. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband Steven and their son Atlas.