Beneath the Grid

About this book

Sixteen-year-old Leo Mercer prefers the predictable lines of his hand-drawn maps to the unpredictable nature of high school. Banished from sports due to severe pollen allergies and chronic ankle instability, he spends his weekends charting forgotten coastal infrastructure in Washington. But when he intercepts a damaged municipal tablet containing encrypted waypoints for an uncharted network of storm culverts beneath a planned luxury resort, his quiet life is upended. Thrust into the grueling Cascades Navigational Relay alongside fiercely competitive mountain-biker Sam and resourceful electronics salvager Priya, Leo realizes the race is a cover. Developers have subtly redrawn the official boundaries to obscure their environmental impact. The trio's true mission becomes a high-stakes race through dangerous, unmaintained maintenance corridors to reach a rusted 1980s geodetic marker. This marker holds the original conservation blueprints required to legally halt the wetland paving before a nine-day groundbreaking deadline. As physical and environmental challenges escalate, Leo must step out of his comfort zone, relinquish absolute control to his teammates, and discover that true strength lies in charting paths forward together.

Book details

Genres:

Adventure, Young Adult Contemporary

Language:

en

Published:

2026-04-16

Content rating:

PG