The Disunited States of America (Crosstime Traffic)

praise For Harry Turtledove one Of Alternate History's Authentic Modern Masters. — booklist turtledove Has Proved He Can Divert His Readers To Astonishing Places…i Know I'd Follow His Imagination Almost Anywhere. — san Jose Mercury News one Of The Genre's Leading Purveyors Of Alternate History. — dragon turtledove Excels In Alternate History. — library Journal readers Nostalgic For The Sf Novels Of Robert A. Heinlein And Andre Norton Will Find Much To Enjoy…this Is A Rousing Story That Reminds Us That 'adventure' Is Really Someone Else In Deep Trouble A Long Way Off. — publishers Weekly On gunpowder Empire publishers Weekly in Turtledove's Fast-paced Fourth Crosstime Traffic Novel (after 2005's In High Places), Two Teenage Protagonists From Different Versions Of The United States Meet In Elizabeth, Va., A Backwater Town In A Balkanized North America. Beckie Royer, An Inadvertent Gunrunner From Los Angeles, Accompanies Her Grandmother And Uncle In A Car Loaded With Assault Rifles Meant For African-american Rebels In Virginia. The State, Known As A Country In This Alternate History, Is On The Brink Of A Race-related Civil War-and A War With Ohio. Into The Chaos Comes Justin Monroe, A Crosstime Traffic Traveler On A Trade Mission With His Mother. Becky And Justin Solidify Their Friendship As The Mayhem Escalates To Biological Warfare, And They And Their Families Face Ethical And Space-time Dilemmas. Via Sympathetic Characters, Turtledove Delivers Lessons On Racism And Diplomacy For A Young Adult Audience. (sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. Justin's family are Time Traders. The summer before he's due to start college, he goes with them to a different Virginia, in a timeline where the American states never became a single country, and American history has consisted of a series of small wars. Despite his unease, he accompanies Randolph Brooks, another Time Trader, on a visit to the tiny upland town of Elizabeth, Virginia. He'll only be away from his parents for a few days. Beckie Royer thanks her stars that she's from California, the most prosperous and advanced country in North America. But just now she's in Virginia with her grandmother, who wants to revisit the tiny mountain town where she grew up. The only interesting thing there is a boy named Justin--and he'll be gone soon. Then war between Virginia and Ohio breaks out anew. Ohio sets a tailored virus loose on Virginia. Virginia swiftly imposes a quarantine, trapping Becky and Justin and Randolph Brooks in Elizabeth. Even Crosstime Traffic can't help. All the three of them can do is watch as plague and violence take over the town. When the latest war breaks out between Virginia and Ohio, using a tailored virus that unleashes a plague on the tiny upland town of Elizabeth, Virginia, Crosstime Traffic operatives Justin and Becky become trapped in the middle of the conflict