In Real Life by Cory Doctorow

The other day I finally sat down to read In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and I can say I was not disappointed. A big perk of working as a Children's Lead Bookseller is getting to see some books arrive before hitting the floor and getting to sit and read them so I can recommend immediately. What first caught my eye was the amazing visuals on the front cover and after reading the description there was no chance I could walk away.

In this story we meet Anda, a cute chubby high school who seems a little lost and just floating through day by day.  When a guest speaker comes to her school and informs her class there's a gaming guild on a new MMORPG that is only avaialable to girls, Anda was immediately enraptured. She couldn't wait to begin and rushed home to plead with her mother to let her play, a situation I understand all to well having been obsessed with gaming from a young age myself.  Anda gets into the game and meets Sarge, a well versed player that is more than thrilled to take Anda under her wing. Sarge tells her they have an unofficial quest they can do for real life money, destroying the avatars of "gold farmers", players who hoard in game money and sell it for real life funds. During one of their raids Anda actually stops and speaks to one and finds out he's a teen boy from China working 12 hours straight farming for small pay that is desperately needed. Anda can't help but feel for his plight and vows to help him, they say the path to hell is paved with good intentions and Anda finds her plan to help, only spirals his life into worse circumstances. Heart broken, Anda and Sarge get into a fight leading to them both being suspended and Anda finds herself banned by her mother from the game. In the end truths come to light, friendships are repaired and in game good standings returned seemingly sending Anda into an amazing future career in the gaming world.

I like to omit pivotal moments in my reviews so you find yourself urged to read it yourself, that's the bookseller in me coming out I suppose. I loved this book, it was really great to see a female geared gaming book, without making her the helpless damsel or the girl showing off for the sake of boys. She loves gaming for herself and despite being in a group of gaming guys at school, she doesn't feel a need to come in and brag or show off. I highly recommend this read for something light and sweet with great visuals and colors and cute laughs.