In Real Life
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
From acclaimed teen author Cory Doctorow and rising star cartoonist Jen Wang, In Real Life is a sensitive, thoughtful look at adolescence, gaming, poverty, and culture-clash. Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role playing game that she spends most of her free time on. It's a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It's a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends. Gaming is, for Anda, entirely a good thing. But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer -- a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake. This title has common Core connections.BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
I really enjoyed how this book became more than a girl trying to "escape" from every day life. It became her encouraging others to stand up for themselves and attempt to gain a better life. I also like how gaming gave her confidence in her every day life. She started reaching out to those around her in school. The art is well done. The colors clearly distinguish between "real life" and "gaming". But across the book the colors are vibrant and deep. Overall, really enjoyed this book.
Graphic novel
Graphic novel
I really wanted to love this because the art style and premise seemed to be something that I would enjoy. Unfortunately it became less about a girl growing through playing video games and more about a world problem that is never solved. There’s no real resolution to this story and it just felt too preachy for me. I may do a more in-depth review but in short, I’m very disappointed. ☹️
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