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.

1118139053

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.

This title has common Core connections.

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Overview

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.

This title has common Core connections.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596436589
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	10/14/2014
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	986,754
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	GN390L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, including THE LOST CAUSE, a solarpunk science fiction novel of hope amidst the climate emergency. His recent nonfiction THE INTERNET CON: HOW TO SEIZE THE MEANS OF COMPUTATION is a Big Tech disassembly manual. Other recent books include RED TEAM BLUES, a science fiction crime thriller; CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; the LITTLE BROTHER series for young adults; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Jen Wang is the award-winning NYT Bestselling author and illustrator of several graphic novels for young readers including Ash's Cabin, Stargazing, The Prince and The Dressmaker, In Real Life (co-written with Cory Doctorow), and Koko Be Good. Jen's honors include two Eisner Awards, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Children's Literature Award, and the Fauve d’Angoulême Youth Award. She is based in Los Angeles and is a co-founder and organizer for Comic Arts LA.

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Ultimately, Doctorow and Wang want us to consider what it means to be part of groups that hate other groups, and how technology and persistence can help us overcome such barriers…In Real Life is a powerful narrative…and it's easy to imagine many young gamers—not to mention many young gamers' parents—moved to consider the consequences and limitless potential of the worlds they helped create.

The New York Times Book Review - Chris Taylor

08/25/2014
In a heartfelt and of-the-moment story, Doctorow draws on his technology acumen and activism to portray the intricacies of 21st-century global citizenry, while also touching on what it means to be a gamer (particularly a female one). After joining the massively multiplayer online game Coarsegold, Arizona high schooler Anda meets Raymond, a boy from China who works as a “gold farmer,” collecting in-game resources to be sold for real-world cash (a concept Doctorow explored in-depth in 2010’s For the Win). Initially, Anda is led to believe that Raymond and his ilk are corrupting the game, but after she discovers their tenuous economic circumstances and poor living conditions, she begins urging Raymond to demand better treatment. It’s a noble cause, but it comes with potential consequences for both Raymond and Anda. Characters come to life through Wang’s (Koko Be Good) fluid forms and emotive faces, and her adroit shift in colors as the story moves between the physical and gaming worlds is subtle and effective. Ages 12–up. Author’s agent: Russell Galen, Scovil Galen Ghosh Literary Agency. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A lovely graphic novel for gamer girls of all ages.” —Felicia Day, star and creator of The Guild
“Stunning artwork . . . An educational introduction offers further insight into gaming and the economies and political implications behind them.” —BCCB
“The combination of girls-only gaming; gorgeous, stylized artwork; and a meaningful, sophisticated message about online gaming makes this a surefire hit for readers everywhere, especially girls.” —Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
“The illustrations of the game are vibrant and dynamic . . . The subject matter will have a built-in audience, and the appealing artwork will move this off the shelves.” —School Library Journal
“Online gaming and real life collide when a teen discovers the hidden economies and injustices that hide among seemingly innocent pixels . . . Through Wong's captivating illustrations and Doctorow's heady prose, readers are left with a story that's both wholly satisfying as a work of fiction and serious food for thought about the real-life ramifications of playing in an intangible world. Thought-provoking, as always from Doctorow.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Characters come to life through Wang's fluid forms and emotive faces, and her adroit shift in colors as the story moves between the physical and gaming worlds is subtle and effective.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

09/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—Anda begins playing Coarsegold Online, a massive multiplayer game, after a gamer specifically looking for girls to play as female characters visits her school. Immediately adept at the game, Anda meets a player who tells her she can make money by killing characters farming for gold. These farmers sell gold to players, allowing them to essentially cheat at the game by quickly buying items they have not earned. Anda meets Raymond, a Chinese teen who works as a gold farmer. She learns about his real life—he works long days and has no health coverage. She encourages him to demand health care or strike, a choice that ends up having real-world ramifications. The narrative toggles between the in-game story and real life. The illustrations of the game are vibrant and dynamic, contrasting well with the muted browns and drab greens of Anda's reality. A detailed introduction by Doctorow about games, economics, politics, and activism serves to ensure readers "get" the story. The author attempts to tackle these large issues and others (like gender and privilege) but only does so superficially. The writing can feel heavy-handed, with the message overpowering Anda's voice. The problematic notion of a white character speaking for and trying to save minority characters (that all look identical) is addressed, but the too tidy ending makes that issue, and many others, feel oversimplified. The subject matter will have a built-in audience, and the appealing artwork will move this off the shelves, but readers may ultimately find the story unsatisfying.—Amanda MacGregor, formerly at Apollo High School Library, St. Cloud, MN

School Library Journal

2014-07-22
Online gaming and real life collide when a teen discovers the hidden economies and injustices that hide among seemingly innocent pixels.Anda, a shy, overweight gamer and a recent transplant to Flagstaff, Arizona, is beyond excited when a guest speaker in one of her classes invites her to join in playing a massive multiplayer online role-playing game called "Coarsegold." With her parents' approval, Anda joins the presenters' guild, a group of girls playing the game as girl avatars. Once in "Coarsegold," Anda—known online as Kalidestroyer—is confronted by another guild member named Lucy, who asks her if she'd be interested in earning "real cash." When she accepts, she's pulled into a world of real-money economies where workers "play" the game, garnering items they can then sell for actual money to other players. Doctorow takes a subject that many people probably haven't considered (unless they've already read his For the Win, 2010) and uses the fictional frame to drive home a hard truth: that many of the games we play or items we buy have unseen people tied to them, people who have their own struggles. Through Wong's captivating illustrations and Doctorow's heady prose, readers are left with a story that's both wholly satisfying as a work of fiction and serious food for thought about the real-life ramifications of playing in an intangible world. Thought-provoking, as always from Doctorow. (Graphic fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews

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