Firestorm by David Klass
Firestorm tells the story of Jack Danielson, a normal high school senior--or so he thinks. He's starting running back on the football team, gets decent grades, and has a beautiful and talented girlfriend, P.J. The night his life goes from normal to dangerously weird, Jack breaks his school's rushing record (340 yards) and appears on the local news; he's everyone's hero, yet when he gets home, his parents are angry. Jack’s parents have told him to blend in--to stay quiet in class, to not do too well at sports--and now that he's appeared on the news, his life is in danger. Before Jack can even understand what's going on, his father has hustled him into a car to escape. Jack learns that his parents aren't really his parents, he has supernatural enemies who are out to kill him, and he's the only one with the power to avert a worldwide ecological disaster that happens sometime in the future. Jack is sent to find a mysterious power source called the Firestorm, and he's joined by Eko, a girl from the future who trains him by kicking his butt with her ninja skills, and Gisco, an enormous dog who just happens to be able to communicate with Jack telepathically. (He's also quite the smarta**.)
This eco-fantasy is the first in a series called the Caretaker Trilogy. It's packed with high-intensity thrills, and it conveys how easily ignorance can cause environmental atrocities; because of our actions in the present, we unwittingly destroy our future. Some of the scenes of ecological disaster are downright chilling, yet they never come across as preachy or cheesy. Jack comes off as a regular guy, right down to his awkward sexual impulses (and he has many): he loves sports, girls, and can't imagine how somebody like him is going to save the world. Jack’s surprising fate at the end of the first volume will leave readers waiting eagerly for the second installment, Whirlwind, that comes out March 2008.
This book is currently on display on the shelves behind the circulation desk on the first floor; after that, it will be in the fiction section, call number F Klass.