Student campers enrolled in Digital Media Academy’s 2013 teen summer tech camps will receive a free digital copy of Echo Hunt: The Ultimate Game, DMA announced today. The book is part of the teen literary series “Echo’s Revenge,” which blurs the lines between games and reality.

Sean Austin intends to follow this investigation no matter where it leads.

Echo’s Revenge: The Ultimate Game (Sean Austin, 296 pages, AAA Reality Games) follows the quest of two young brothers on a search to find their real father and escape a monster they thought lived only inside a game.

Author Hart Getzen (the writer behind Sean Austin) paints a believable coming-of-age tale for the Internet Generation.

The brothers Reggie (age 14) and Jeremy (10) face troubles at home while also battling a major threat to the human race. The book, which features action and intrigue on the highest level, is a unique treat for teens and pulls source material from everything from Internet memes to netspeak. The book creates some interesting digital tie-ins, too: the Echo Hunt website, for example, looks like the log-in for a hacker’s computer, offering a neat way for readers to interact with the book and help solve the puzzle. The next installment in the series, Echo’s Revenge: The Other Side, will pick up the action where Echo Hunt: The Ultimate Game leaves off and is expected to have the same digital tie-ins.

A Novel Approach to STEM
For techies of all ages who are into programming or coding, robotics or game design, this book delivers a unique and powerful experience. The themes that run through the series are both entertaining and educational, with Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM) functioning as the tentpoles that support the narrative. STEM (as it’s more commonly known) is also Digital Media Academy’s educational mission: At DMA we’re determined that every student who attends our tech camp also learns how to apply STEM skills to their analog lives.

The Hunt is On
If stories like “Echo Hunt” inspire you, this summer spend a week or two at Digital Media Academy. DMA has locations across the U.S. and Canada, each week-long and multiple-week camp is taught by industry professionals and tech educators. Learning Java™ programming or learning how to program using Python can be a great skill set to have if you ever want to get into the games business or become a software engineer.

Teens, take your tech skill sets to the next level by learning robotics programming and electrical engineering, while kids can learn about robotics using the LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT robotics kit.