{"product_id":"the-resisters-1-the-resisters-isbn-9780375872242","title":"The Resisters #1: The Resisters","description":"Million-copy bestselling \u003ci\u003eHalo\u003c\/i\u003e author and game developer Eric Nylund brings action-packed science fiction to a young audience with this riveting children's debut. Twelve-year-old Ethan Blackwood has always known exactly what he wanted—to win the state soccer championship, get into the best high school, and become an astronaut. Then he meets Madison and Felix, who tell him something . . . \u003ci\u003einsane.\u003c\/i\u003e They claim that 50 years ago, aliens took over the earth, and everyone past puberty is under their mind control. Ethan doesn't believe it. But then he sees for himself the aliens' monster bug robots and the incredible way that Madison and Felix have learned to fight them. So Ethan Blackwood has a choice: he can go back to his normal, suburban, protected lie of a life—or he can become a Resister. This science fiction on the lines of Scott Westerfield and Cory Doctorow for middle graders is now available in paperback.Eric Nylund is a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling and World Fantasy Award nominated author. He has written science fiction and fantasy novels, comic books, and has helped make many blockbuster video games.   \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Eric has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in chemistry. He graduated from the prestigious Clarion West Writer’s Workshop in 1994. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his family.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e You can learn more about Eric at www.ericnylund.net.° ° ° 1 ° ° ° \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Last Time For Ordinary \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan Blackwood prepared for battle. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In the months to come, Ethan would look back and marvel that there could be a fight in which someone didn’t get hurt . . . or his life or the entire human race wasn’t constantly at risk. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At the time, though, he did think of it as a battle. No one ever thought of it as a game—not when you strapped on six hundred pounds of nuclear-powered exoskeleton athletic suit. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Inside his suit, he crouched on the sidelines of the Northside Elementary athletic field. Ethan and his teammates huddled around Coach, listening to his plan. Each of them wore an external frame that was stainless steel and hydraulics and orange gecko-grip-soled feet . . . except, of course, Coach. He wasn’t in a suit. For now, he was half their size, a dwarf among giants. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was all “defensive action” this and “special team ?maneuver” that. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Really, all the fancy terms came down to setting up one last play. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This was a special repair time-out before the last seven seconds of the state semifinal soccer championship: the Grizzlies vs. the Westside Warriors. The score was tied. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Twelve-year-old Ethan was captain of the Grizzlies. It was a crushing responsibility for a seventh grader surrounded by the eighth graders on his team. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But Ethan thrived under pressure. The tougher the midterm, the more he crammed. The tighter the spot in a match, the more Ethan moved like a cat in his suit—?twisting around defenders—even making those near-half-field five-hundred-foot kicks! \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Inside the formfitting cockpit, sweat dripped off the end of Ethan’s nose. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e There were a few moments in Ethan Blackwood’s life that had burned themselves into his memory: a splinter that’d gone through his hand when he was four (his mom had pulled it out); winning two blue ribbons at school ?science fairs—one for the biology of the nerve, another for a robotic arm; last week at the Sadie Hawkins dance, when he’d fumbled for Mary Vincent’s hand (although technically she had taken his hand)—and this moment. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Like when he’d had that splinter, won the science fairs, and held Mary’s hand—Ethan felt burning, churning flutters deep in his stomach. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But this was different. It wasn’t just about Ethan. His whole team had a stake in this, and that made it vital that Ethan get it right. “Blackwood!” Coach Norman said. “Your head in this match?” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan Blackwood looked at his teammates. The snarling-bear emblems on their chest plates stared back at him; the pressure circuits in their arms and legs twitched and hissed as if the suits were somehow nervous too. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan met the dark gray eyes of Coach. “Yes, sir.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Coach went on then . . . something about the importance of focus . . . as Ethan’s gaze drifted past him, along the sidelines of the field and the bleachers. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The cheers were completely distracting. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan adjusted the filters on his targeting camera to shade the huge lights overhead that turned night into day on the field. He spotted his mom in the stands, with her golden Filipino features smiling, and Dad, with his strong Cherokee jaw clenched (Ethan had inherited the same quick smile, and the same quick-to-frown jawline). They’d be proud of him win or lose. Even his brother and sisters had come tonight: little Dana and Danny, still in diapers, and his older sister, Emma, who gave Ethan a thumbs-up. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Something was out of place, though. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sitting a row up from his family were two strangers. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan knew everyone at school and most of the opposing Westside Warrior fans, but these two students, a guy and a girl, he’d never seen before. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They weren’t in Northside’s red and brown colors or Westside’s green. Even though it was prohibited by the school’s dress code, they wore jeans and black T-shirts. The dark colors set off their superpale skin. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The boy took up space for two people in the stands— not “fat” big, but more like a weightlifter. His T-shirt looked two sizes too small and about to rip. His head was shaved, showing only a faint shadow of stubble. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The girl was thin, and she seemed to drown in her oversized T-shirt. Her blond hair stuck up in a spiky ?ponytail. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Something else set them apart. The look in their eyes was the strangest thing. Pure tension—like this was a life-or-death situation. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Well, how could anyone not be fascinated by soccer? Especially this match! But these two scrutinized everyone on the field . . . as if they weren’t interested in the game, exactly, but were looking for someone. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Coach Norman finished his final instructions (which Ethan realized he had completely blanked on) and shouted, “Break!” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan instantly forgot the two strangers and snapped his head back into the match. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e His teammates placed their hands in the center of the huddle with machine-like precision, raised them in salute, and shouted, “Grrrrrrrrizzlies!!” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan and his team then turned to face the Westside Warriors. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Ethan should have asked about Coach’s instructions, but his parents had always told him to go with his gut when in doubt. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e That was what he’d do now. ","brand":"Yearling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302726029541,"sku":"NP9780375872242","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780375872242.jpg?v=1767741217","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-resisters-1-the-resisters-isbn-9780375872242","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}