Electric Kid Books in Order

The Electric Kid books are near-future adventures about two young survivors who refuse to let a brutal city define them. The first book is set in 2061, in a place where Hotwire and Blindboy live among huge rubbish heaps. They are orphans, and every useful object, scrap of food, and safe place has to be found or defended.

Hotwire is gifted with machines. She can repair discarded electronics and make practical use of things other people have thrown away. Blindboy cannot see, but his hearing is unusually sharp, allowing him to detect ultrasonic signals and locate useful equipment. Together, they make a tough and inventive team.

The dump is home, but it is never secure.

In The Electric Kid, the pair's talents attract the attention of Mouseman, a criminal who wants to exploit them. What begins as scavenging and survival becomes a fight to avoid being trapped in a larger system of theft and forced labor. The book keeps the focus on their friendship and on the small skills that give them a chance against adults with more money and power.

Cybercats picks up after Hotwire and Blindboy have created rubbish-eating robots to help clean the city. Their invention should solve a real problem, but Mouseman returns and takes control of the machines for his own purposes. The same technology that could improve life becomes a threat when it is placed in the wrong hands.

The series has the energy of a cyberpunk adventure, but its stakes stay understandable. It is about children who are treated as disposable, the value of practical intelligence, and the difference between using technology to help people and using it to control them. Hotwire and Blindboy are capable without becoming invulnerable, which keeps their victories earned.

Start with The Electric Kid. It establishes the future city, their friendship, and Mouseman, while Cybercats works best after readers have seen how the pair first learn to trust their abilities and each other.