Powerless - Paperback

The senior physics class of New Manotick Collegiate Institute is disrupted after a heat exchanger explosion at their local Nuclear Plant sends six students to the hospital and causes power outages in the Greater Ottawa Area. Upon waking up from his coma, Sidney (Sid) Tam-Adams discovers that he can generate telekinetic waves from his brain, while Vritikha (Tikha) Ganatra receives recurring dreams, all of which end in her death. Before the explosion, Sidney was caring for his ailing Mother while Vritikha was volunteering for her uncle's parliamentary campaign alongside her cousin, friends and siblings. They were two unrelated high school seniors navigating the messy transition to adulthood. Now they find their journeys intertwined and simultaneously grapple with a sense of powerlessness which stems from an inability to alter a callous and unwanted future.

Meanwhile, the Nuclear Plant explosion eclipses the federal election a couple of weeks before the finish line. The central issues surrounding this election cycle include the climate crisis and energy sustainability as record-high heat waves and intermittent power outages pummel the town of Manotick as well as the Greater Ottawa Area.