Short-listed for the 2006 Red Maple Award Tom Blake is a likeable but shy high school student, who fantasizes about adventure, romance, and discovering “‘'portholes”“ to the past. Little does he know that all are about to come his way. Tom discovers that a local computer company is conditioning his fellow students for what he suspects is some evil purpose. He soon finds himself up against a corrupt organization with an agenda of genetic experimentation. Mercury Man evokes all the excitement of the best scifi, fantasy, and hero myths while never losing touch with ordinary urban contemporary reality.