Jinxed

Written by Amy McCulloch

Narrated by Catherine Ho

The Golden Compass for the digital age! When a coding star enters an elite technology academy, she discovers a world of competition, intrigue, and family secrets?plus a robotic companion that isn't what it seems.

Lacey Chu has always dreamed of working as an engineer for MONCHA, the biggest tech firm in the world and the company behind the "baku"?a customizable "pet" with all the capabilities of a smartphone. But when Lacey is rejected by the elite academy that promises that future, she's crushed.

One night, Lacey comes across the broken form of a highly advanced baku. After she repairs it, the cat-shaped baku she calls Jinx opens its eyes and somehow gets her into her dream school. But Jinx is different than any other baku she's ever seen...He seems real.

As Lacey settles into life at school, competing with the best students in a battle of the bakus that tests her abilities, she learns that Jinx is part of a dangerous secret. Can Lacey hold on to Jinx and her dreams for the future?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781980071792

Amy McCulloch

Amy McCulloch (London, UK) graduated from the University of Toronto and works as commissioning editor for HarperVoyager.

Reviews for Jinxed

[Jason Hines · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love the power of friendship in this book. I think I might have jinxed it, but it might be my favorite book ever.



-MetaReader

[Jeremy Kuzniar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was thick hello hello hello hello heels hello

[ladycato · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.This tense, smart middle grade book establishes a near-future Earth where only the poorest people have smart phones. Anyone who’s anyone has a baku, which is a companion robot, computer, and accessory all in one. Lacey Chu is a brilliant young engineer with her hopes set on getting into an elite school that fast-tracks graduates to the Moncha corporation, where Monica Chan invented bakus. Lacey is devastated when she isn’t accepted, and embarrassed when all she can afford is a measly level one scarab baku. But when she finds a piece of junk and hauls it home to her workshop, she’s stunned to find it’s a cat baku unlike any other. She fixes it up. Suddenly, her school rejection is undone. She’s in! But as she starts her dream school, she realizes her baku, Jinx, is truly unique. He doesn’t obey orders, as if he.... is alive.This book is so much fun. You can’t help but love Jinx. He’s such a cat. Lacey is a great heroine, a kid with dreams and genuine drive. I found the book breathless in pace. I didn't want to put it down! My only complaint is that the book ends on a tortuous cliffhanger.