video games

Glitch

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by Sarah Graley
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: May 14, 2019
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There’s some video game-style violence. It will be in the middle grade graphic novel section of the bookstore.

A new video game, Dungeon City, has dropped and Izzy is dying to play it. Sure, she told her friend Eric that she’d wait and they could play it together, but it’s there and its new… and it turns out she can go INTO the game. And it’s up to HER to save the world. She teams up with a robot, Rae, and together they take raid dungeons and take on bad guys and work to save the world.

Except. Izzy is spending more of her time in the game than in the real world. She doesn’t sleep at nights, snoozing her way through the school. Her parents are worried. Her teachers don’t know what to do with her. And worst of all, she’s neglecting her friendship with Eric. Can Izzy find a balance in her life again? (And maybe, just maybe, save Dragon City too?)

While this one was fun — I liked the game, and I think the video game aspect will pull kids in — I ended up thinking it was a bit heavy-handed with the whole TOO MUCH PLAYING VIDEO GAMES IS BAD vibe. Really. That’s what I got out of it. Izzy played the game too much and she neglected everything else and there were Consequences which she only resolved by not playing (well, winning) the video game. If it weren’t quite so heavy-handed with that (it may have been my adult eyes, though; I’m not sure a kid would get that out of the book) I would have really thought it was fun. It’s a clever premise (which was actually done better in In Real Life) but I think it would have been better served with a lighter touch on the friendship and real life is better messages.

Tetris: The Games People Play

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tetrisby Box Brown
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at my place of employment.
Content: It’s a history, so if you’re not into Tetris or video games, it won’t be interesting. That said, it’s not a super-high reading level, so kids as young as 10 or 11 might be interested in this. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

First, a confession. One of my roommates the winter of 1991 had a Nintendo (I’m assuming, after reading this), and Tetris was on it. I don’t know how it started (and I may have been playing it in the arcade for a while already; I don’t remember), but I became obsessed with Tetris. Obsessed. I would stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning, playing it, forgoing going out, homework, eating… Eventually, after a month or so of this, my roommates staged an intervention and banned me from playing Tetris. They may have even gotten rid of the game; I don’t remember that either. The game (and my obsession) fell by the wayside, and I haven’t really thought much about it.

That is, until this book showed up in the store and a co-worker pointed it out, saying I might be interested.

It’s the history of how Tetris came to be. A couple of software developers in the USSR thought of this game, worked to program it and sent it around the department where they worked. It became a hit with their friends, and that was the end of it. Or so they thought. But, a developer for Atari and another for Nintendo got their hands on it, and, well, Things began to happen. It’s really kind of convoluted; there was a lot of legal problems, and negotiating business with the USSR wasn’t the easiest to do. But, in the end, Nintendo ended up with the rights, and the rest is history.

Choosing a graphic format to tell this story was interesting, though I’m not sure how well it worked for  me. I kept forgetting who was who (since, after the initial introduction, I only saw their faces and couldn’t remember their names), and the black and yellow color palate got a little old after a while. But, that said, the story was a fascinating one.

Not a bad read.

Insert Coin to Continue

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insertcointby John David Anderson
First sentence: ”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy snagged from the ARC shelves at my place of employment.
Content: There’s talk of crushes, and some bullying. It’s got a quick pace, and short-ish chapters. It’s currently in the middle grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore, but I’d give it to the older end of that spectrum. I think 5th-7th graders might enjoy it more. (But I don’t know if it’s worth moving it.)

Bryan Biggins is a gamer. Specifically, he’s a master of the Sovereign of Darkness video game, handily beating the Demon King over and over again. It’s the best part of his day; he’s middling at school, there are a handful of bullies who call him and his best friend Oz names, and he’s got a crush on a girl that he will pretty much never get. Why not spend all of your free time perfecting this game?

Then, one day he breaks through to the secret level. He doesn’t think anything of it, until he can’t get up the next morning before feeding a coin in the slot that has magically appeared over his alarm clock. And that’s just the beginning: his life has become a video game, complete with hit points, experience points, quests, and leveling up.

It’s confusing for Bryan at first, but eventually, he figures out (sort of) how to “play” the “game”. He finds himself making decisions that he wouldn’t have before. And maybe that’s a good thing.

I’ve enjoyed Anderson’s books in the past, and this was no exception. It’s got a clever premise (a really great contemporary-fantasy blend) and Anderson has a great light, fun delivery with this. It captures the difficulty of being a 7th grader, of being someone who hasn’t quite got everything together yet, but the whole gaming element adds a level of fun that makes this one stand out. It was a unique premise, and a delightful book to read.