Brittney Morris

Brittney Morris writes fast-moving fiction about young people using technology, games, and collective skill to confront unequal systems. The Jump follows Jax, Yas, Spider, and Han, four working-class Seattle teenagers who form the scavenger-hunting team JERICHO. When a secretive group launches a high-stakes puzzle contest, they see a chance to protect families and neighborhoods threatened by a proposed oil refinery. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers released it in 2023, with a later paperback edition in 2024. Morris drew inspiration from elaborate internet puzzles and from Seattle’s culture of civic resistance, where she had lived for several years. Her earlier novels are SLAY and The Cost of Knowing. Her game-writing credits include Subnautica: Below Zero and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Morris studied economics and founded Boston University’s Creative Writing Club. The Jump brings those interests together: cryptography drives the action, but friendship, class, environmental pressure, and control over urban change give the contest its consequences.