Tag Archive | gaming

X is unknown: KEPLER26: THE INVITATION to abandoned brothers – to a safe place? by Parvela, Sortland, Pitkanen, and Witesman (MG Fiction) #AtoZ

Apr28
Book cover of Kepler62: The Invitation, by/ Timo Parvela & Bjorn Sortland; art by Pasi Pitkanen; translated by Owen Witesman. Shows a short Black boy and a taller white tween boy with sticking-up hair, half-brothers who hold hands as they walk into a dark hangar. Through the open hangar doors emblazoned with a fierce bird, is a large passenger jet plane taking off into a vivid red and orange sky.

Too many people, too much pollution,
not enough work or food,
a computer game offers escape and a secret…

With Mom always gone, 13-year-old Ari shoplifts to feed little half-brother Joni. The hoopla about the upcoming space expedition to find another habitable planet doesn’t fill an empty stomach.

“A lady” gives Joni the video game that everyone is talking about: Kepler62, rumored to have a secret ending if you master all the levels.

Two days, two nights – the game starts with easy quests, then gets much harder. Online gamer forums say no one has solved level 99 yet.

As they try yet again, Joni insists that Ari choose an unconventional weapon, and onward they go in the dark tunnel… success!

Then things the boys have never ever seen appear on-screen – mountains and trees and a meadow where a tall pale boy runs with a kite as a young dark boy follows… is that them?

Joni wakes up with a fever, so they go to the health center where a very young girl with implanted medical knowledge prescribes a medication that triggers alarms when they accept it. The lady who gave Joni the game helps them escape, but the men in grey suits are fast!

Why did the government just now discover the boys’ mother hasn’t been home in a while?
Oh, those men’s eyes have that glint like the girl doctor – have their brains been altered, too?
Joni is sure there’s something else in the game – can the brothers find it?

This first book in the Kepler62 illustrated novel series (https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/Kepler62) was simultaneously released in Finnish and Norwegian, then translated into English.

What’s your favorite reality-escape video game?
**kmm

Book info: Kepler62: The Invitation / Timo Parvela & Bjorn Sortland; art by Pasi Pitkanen; translated by Owen Witesman. Arctis Books, 2023. [Timo’s site https://www.timoparvela.fi/en] [Bjorn’s site https://bjornsortland.no/boker.html] [Pasi’s site https://www.instagram.com/pp_pitkanen/] [Owen’s site https://www.suomitranslation.com/about/] [publisher site https://www.arctis-books.com/books/the-invitation] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

T is for TWELFTH KNIGHT, her online game territory, not his! by Alexene Farol Follmuth (YA fiction) #AtoZ

Apr23
Book cover of Twelfth Knight, by Alexene Farol Follmuth. Shows a Latina teen dressed in ornate black armor holding a sword toward a Black teen wearing a high school football jersey, jeans and fancy sneakers, using crutches with one knee in a brace. Several gaming icons are lined up above their heads.

Such a slacker!
More work for her,
more need to escape into the game.

What did Viola ever do to deserve a tabletop game group that doesn’t appreciate her well-crafted campaign? Or a student body president elected because he’s California football royalty, leaving all the hard work to her as vice-president? Or having to pretend to be male in Twelfth Night battle game online so she’s not harassed for being a confident, competent Latina?

Injured on a touchdown play, Jack’s PT regimen still leaves the Black teen too much free time – might as well try that Twelfth Night game his buddy recommended.

As Cesario in-game, Vi immediately recognizes Jack’s avatar (a knight armored in their school colors – ha!) and eventually partners with him in quests, some chat between battles.

Working together at school on Homecoming Dance plans, Jack asks Vi to figure out why his girlfriend Olivia is growing distant…
Vi’s closest friend Antonia decides not to volunteer at MagiCon fantasy conference, and Jack is her substitute…
College scouts are asking if Jack’s knee will be ready for the playoffs and his future with them…

After in-game chat veers into personal stuff and Jack’s growing attraction to Vi, she allows Jack/Duke to believe it’s her twin brother that he’s befriended in the game (Renaissance Faire actor, non-gamer Bash is horrified).

Bash and Vi’s mom is seriously dating now, Cesario and Duke are closing in on the game’s ultimate prize, and there’s a senior night activity to plan… argh!

Told in the alternating voices of Jack and Viola, this rom-com blends online battles, hidden identities, self-discovery, and real-life relationships – with strong echoes of Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night.

Have you ever adopted an online persona that’s you-but-better?
**kmm

Book info: Twelfth Knight / Alexene Farol Follmuth. Tor Teen, hardcover 2024, paperback May 2025.[author site https://www.alexenefarolfollmuth.com/twelfth-knight] [publisher site https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250884909/twelfthknight/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

N is THE NO-GIRLFRIEND RULE – when his game is closed to her, she finds a better one! by Christen Randall (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr16
book cover of The No-Girlfriend Rule, by Christen Randall. Atheneum/S&S

Banned from the tabletop game he plays with his buddies.
Stay home or master the game and change their minds?

To show Chris she’s a great girlfriend, Hollis is determined to learn how to play Secrets & Sorcery RPG.

After an icky experience at their local games shop, the Kentucky teen spots a notice that new players are welcomed to an all-girls S&S group.

And so it is that Hollis (artistic, fat, usually broke) meets Gloria (their Secret Keeper, Colombian-American, curvy) and her preteen sister Fran (live-wire, gonna be a barbarian!!!), Aini (vibrant, cool, haircolor changes often), Maggie (blonde, social media star, also new) and Iffy (black, trans, involved in everything at school).

During the first session, they welcome both newcomers warmly, help Hollis refine her character as an armor-graced paladin with healing skill, and appreciate her cupcake mastery.

Every Friday night, Hollis carpools to Gloria and Fran’s house just across the river in Ohio, enjoying the twists and turns that their Secret Keeper adds to the game and how well their characters are developing together.

Hollis vividly sees each character in her mind, sketching them often, adding colors and metallic highlights – her rendition of Aini’s bard may be the best.

Riding with Aini to game night, dressing up as their characters for the fall festival, buying new game dice with Aini’s advice – so much better than being just-tolerated at school by Chris’s game bros.

The intricate storyline of their long S&S quest is revealed week by week, as Hollis endures her senior year, might pass history with Iffy’s tutoring, and realizes how she likes being with Aini.

How have shared interests brought together a group in your life?
**kmm

Book info: The No-Girlfriend Rule / Christen Randall. Atheneum/S&S, 2024. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

K is Kyr battling in space for vengeance and SOME DESPERATE GLORY, by Emily Tesh (YA book review) #A2Z

Apr13
book cover of Some Desperate Glory, by Emily Tesh. Published by Tordotcom | recommended on BooksYALove.com

“While we live, the enemy shall fear us.”

They’re the last true humans, hidden in a hollow asteroid, living on scant food, training for vengeance after Earth was obliterated by the alien Majo.

Genetically-enhanced Kyr expects the other teen girls to train for combat with her focused ferocity, so they’ll be placed on a battleship instead of being trapped in the nursery as breeding stock.

Only her brother Mags is a stronger warrior, yet he is sent on a suicide mission to a planet of Majo-cooperating humans, and the Commander assigns Kyr to her worst nightmare.

Desperate to save Mags and herself, Kyr enlists the help of his tech-savvy friend and crush Avi to escape their fates by using the recently-captured Majo ship and its alien pilot Yiso.

Away they flee, to the same planet that their big sister defected to, the planet that the supreme Majo leader will soon visit…coincidence?

The history relentlessly drilled into Kyr gets a reboot, a shadow engine of subreality makes their toughest training sims seem like babies’ play, and the young people have only a short time to help Yiso keep things from getting worse.

And then time twists… and twists…

Who’s the hero here?
How can anyone gay survive in a society where reproduction is paramount?
What other ways could Kyr’s life have turned out?

In the future, as now, different views of the same events bring conflict as well as opportunities for peace.

What “fact” of history learned in childhood have you unlearned?
**kmm

Book info: Some Desperate Glory / Emily Tesh. Tordotcom, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

ALEXIS VS SUMMER VACATION – all work & no fun? by Sarah Jamila Stevenson & Veronica Agarwal (MG Graphic novel review)

Mar18
book cover of Alexis vs Summer Vacation, by Sarah Jamila Stevenson; illustrated by Veronica Agarwal. Published by Avenue A Books | recommended on BooksYALove.com

School’s out!
Time for summer fun!
Or not so fun…

Alexis is dreading this summer before high school with BFF Lara gone to adventure camp for six weeks, the others in their G&G gaming group traveling away with family… and she’s stuck here, babysitting her little brother and sister for free!

So many changes since her parents divorced recently that the 14-year-old isn’t sure about what she wants to do with her future anymore, likes guys and gals but can’t summon the courage to talk to the girl she has a crush on… sigh.

Mom gets them pool passes so finally they can hang out with other kids. Alexis sees some classmates there and discovers they’re all going to the same high school… even that bully Mack.

Jason works with his dad in their Japanese fusion food truck, and Luke is in lifeguard training, but they both get time off so Alexis introduces them to Goblins & Gauntlets, her favorite role-playing game.

If only Mack would quit picking on Jason, and Luke’s perfect big brother would quit singling him out during exercises, and Alexis would quit stalling and actually go talk to Hayley…

Can the friends level themselves up, as well as their G&G characters?
Will Lara still be her BFF after all summer away?
What if Hayley won’t even talk to Alexis?

This graphic novel takes us through Alexis’ eventful/boring summer as she discovers more about herself with the help of new friends and her much-loved G&G game.

What’s your favorite game to play with friends?
**kmm

Book info: Alexis vs Summer Vacation / Sarah Jamila Stevenson; illustrated by Veronica Agarwal. Avenue A Books, 2019. [author site] [artist site] [publisher site] Personal collection; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Bad news AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT, by Jason Reynolds & Jason Griffin (YA book review)

Jan11
book cover of Ain't Burned All the Bright, by Jason Reynolds; artwork by Jason Griffin. Published by Atheneum | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Three long sentences,
Two Jasons collaborating again,
One vibrant book, willing us to breathe…

His father coughing and coughing in the bedroom, his mother glued to the all-bad-news television. Brother won’t stop playing his video game, sister chatting about what to bring for a protest during a pandemic.

Stuck at home together – will it ever be safe to leave?
After George Floyd’s murder – who wants to be away from home?
TV locked on the same channel – is there better news anywhere?

A Black young man feels like he’s the only family member who realizes how bad things really are, how “worry is worn like a knit sweater in summer” suffocating them all, yet maybe hope can get them through all this.

Jason Reynolds (I’ve recommended his books Boy in the Black Suit; Ghost; Look Both Ways) wrote the story of a young man and his family during that first year of pandemic and protests as three very, very long sentences.

His former roommate Jason Griffin journaled his impressions of 2020 via paint, colored pencil, and collage in his moleskin notebook, then cut out and taped Reynolds’ words onto his artwork whose textures leap off the satin-surfaced pages of this book.

Happy book birthday to this stunning reflection on events of 2020 when so many of us wished we could change the TV channel from its harsh realities to something brighter.

What do you remember most about 2020?
**kmm

Book info: Ain’t Burned All the Bright / Jason Reynolds; artwork by Jason Griffin. Caitlyn Dlouhy Books/ Atheneum, 2022. [author site] [artist site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

THE ADVENTURE IS NOW on island of wonders! by Jess Redman (MG book review)

Sep22
book cover of The Adventure is Now, by Jess Redman. Published by Farrar Strauss Giroux BFYR | recommended on BooksYALove.com

During a truly terrible year at middle school, the Isle of the Wild game on Milton’s HandHeld device is the only good thing left, as he becomes intrepid explorer Sea Hawk instead of the boy no one wants to be friends with anymore.

So Milton is okay with traveling to his uncle’s research station on remote Lone Island for the summer – better than being around as his parents finalize their divorce.

Far out in the Atlantic Ocean, Lone Island is filled with unbelievable tropical flora and fauna, like an elephant that burrows underground and the Incredible Symphonic Cicadas noted in Dr. Paridis’ field journals.

But after her death, the Truth-Will-Out Vine covered the whole island except the research station and researchers’ small houses, even shutting out aerial views of its wonders!

Other kids on the island? Interesting.
No way to recharge his game device? Egad!
A greedy corporation trying to claim the amazing island? No way!

Milton and his new friends must find a way through the Truth-Will-Out Vine so they can verify Lone Island’s uniquely wondrous creatures, plants, and trees before it’s too late!

Look for this May 2021 adventure at your local library or independent bookstore so you can join the search for the Earthworm Pachyderm, Beautimous Lemallaby, and Yes-No-Maybe-So Tree!

When have friends helped you find something wonderful and worth sharing?
**kmm

Book info: The Adventure is Now / Jess Redman. Farrar Strauss Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2021. [author site] [author interview] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

A is for Ash, saving the world again: OTAKU, by Chris Kluwe (book review)

Apr1
book cover of Otaku, by Chris Kluwe. Published by Tor Forge | recommended on BooksYALove.com

Saving the world is easy for Ash and her team,
they do it in-game with ease and flair…
Now, can they save the real world?

After the Water Wars, CCA’s iron religious fist forces unbelievers into overcrowded Ditchtown, stilted above drowned Miami, and the Game is their best escape.

To pay for Mom’s care, Ashley courier runs at double-speed, hoping her brother can stay out of trouble, saving just enough to rent in-Game hapticwear.

As Ashura the Terrible, her team dominates the Game leaderboard by skill and sword and rocket maneuvers, ignoring racial and sexual threats posted on the ‘Net, staying a jump ahead of those who want their secrets.

Suddenly, they are caught in a real war between theocrats who believe their own prophecies and technocrats who worship their devices and data.

Now, it’s up to this team of young women stop a humanity-ending chain reaction in real time, outside the Game, with just one life left.

+++++
Read an excerpt of Otaku at the publisher’s website here.

How do you decide what’s really worth fighting for?
**kmm

Book info: Otaku / Chris Kluwe. Tor Forge Books, 2020. [author Twitter] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

How is videogame rehab a Cure for the Common Universe? by Christian McKay Heidicker (book review)

Jun25

book cover of Cure for the Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker published by Simon Schuster BFYR | recommended on BooksYALove.com Plays videogames more hours than any full-time job,
Sees sunlight on alternate Thursdays (maybe),
Why would they send him to game-addiction rehab?

And just minutes after Jaxon meets a real, breathing teen girl who agrees to go out with him! Quick – how can he level up and prove that he’s cured and get to that date?!

Read an excerpt here, courtesy of the publisher, then go find your own Cure for the Common Universe at a local library or independent bookstore – just out in paperback this month!

What’ll they throw you into rehab for??
**kmm

Book info: Cure for the Common Universe / Christian McKay Heidicker. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, hardcover 2016, paperback 2017. [author site] [publisher site] [author video] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Banished to a rehab center for videogame addicts, 16 year old Jaxon is desperate to escape in time for his first-ever date with a girl in the real world, but earning his way out could involve actually talking about being abandoned by Mom – no other way to level up?!

Not his fault that his parents divorced when he was just 8 or that his mom’s addictions always make her forget he’s coming to visit or that he is escaping from his stepmother’s perfectionism by living in the videogames that he so loved playing with Mom…

Hustled away to the desert rehab center, Jaxon meets teens who truly are videogame addicts (he isn’t, just likes playing them 60 hours a week in summer) and tries to figure out how he can get back to Salt Lake City in just four days so he can meet Serena (no cellphone, no FaceBook) for their date (first date, first girl who laughed with him instead of at him).

Doing chores earns points, doing dumb stuff loses points for you and your guild (yep, using different names and being in guilds is not like gaming at all – ha!).

Earn enough points, and you can go home from v-hab (again, not at all like gaming – ha!)

But no one in the whole two-month history of Horizons has earned their way out in just 4 days – and that’s what Jaxon has to do, if he wants to see Serena… (was any gaming reward worth this much??)

Soup, Aurora, Meeki, Zxzord, and Fezzik want to help their guildmate get to that golden date with Serena, but he’ll have to see beyond his own limitations first.

Arena, by Holly Jennings (book review) – virtual reality, too-real pain

Jun14

book cover of Arena by Holly Jennings published by Ace Books | recommended on BooksYALove.comVirtual reality is safe combat, right?
Not in this future professional gaming league!

Oh sure, VGL gamers only die digital deaths in this near-future tournament, but every kick and sword strike causes true bodily pain. And when the lines between reality and the Arena start to blur… watch out!

Go to the publisher’s site here to read an excerpt as you port into the Arena with Kali, facing pain and death from more than just game opponents!

Would you fight in virtual reality if you could feel the pain?
**kmm

Book info: Arena / Holly Jennings. Ace Books, 2016. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As first-ever female captain, Kali wants to lead her virtual gaming team to the top, but when Nathan’s death in real life erases him from VGL record books and she starts to flip uncontrollably between reality and game-world, the teen begins to question this system that entertains the masses with make-believe sword duels that leave marks on the gamers.

New teammate Rooke challenges Kali to lead using The Art of War and other books that she studied with her Chinese family as a child – but is a tournament win all that he wants from her?

Keep the viewers happy – put on a great show as you win!

Keep the sponsors happy – party hard in public after you win!

Keep the team owner happy – train even harder so that you win more!

This near-future world celebrates the illusion of winning as camouflage for its too-real problems of addiction, rage, and control.