Jumper by Steven Gould

Before I even begin, I must state that the book and the film are completely disamiliar. One is an action packed blockbuster and the other is teen angst coming of age story. Except for the actually concept of teleportation, the two are very dissimalar. That said, this book has been marketed as both adult and young adult. The first chapter pushes the limits on young adult dealing with extreme child abuse and male rape. So be warned.

That said, this story is written beautifully. Gould chooses not to center the enter story on Davey having this amazing ability to 'jump' but rather grounds the story in reality. Davey is a confused young runaway, who is still dealing with the many issues he has in regards to his mother's abandonement, abuse, and eventually death. This book isn't action packed, far from it, and that is what makes it so charming. Gould credits SF legend Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination for the inspiration about Davy the inadvertent teleport, but I've read Bester, too, and Gould has spent a lot more time sitting around thinking about what life would be like if you could teleport yourself from one place to another in the blink of an eye. It isn't all roses, believe me. This is a smart sci-fi that almost manages to not feel that way at all. It makes the reader think, and feel, and maybe even imagine what they would do with such an awesome power.