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Summary
Summary
Bryan Biggins wakes up to find that his life has become a video game in this funny, honest coming-of-age novel from the author of Ms. Bixby's Last Day , Sidekicked , and Minion .
Meet Bryan Biggins. Most of the time he's a freckle-faced boy, small for his age, who attends a school known for its unwritten uniform of North Face jackets and Hollister jeans. The rest of the time he is Kieran Nightstalker, the level-fifty dark-elf hero of his favorite video game, Sovereign of Darkness.
Until one day Bryan wakes up to find out his life has become a video game. Sort of. Except instead of fighting dragons or blasting bad guys, he's still doing geometry and getting picked last for dodgeball. It's still middle school . Only now there's much more at stake.
Stealing the Twinkie from underneath the noses of those dieting teachers isn't enough to earn him another life. And battling the creature that escaped from the science lab doesn't seem to cut it either. And who knew Romeo and Juliet would turn into a zombie bloodbath?!
All the while he's losing hit points and gaining levels, and facing the truth that GAME OVER might flash before his eyes at any minute. It all seems to be building to something...something that has been haunting Bryan since way before his life turned into an X-Box nightmare, a challenge that only he can face. Will Bryan find a way to beat the game before it's too late?
Author Notes
John David Anderson writes novels for young people and then, occasionally, gets them published. He is the author of Ms. Bixby's Last Day , Sidekicked , Standard Hero Behavior , Minion , and The Dungeoneers . He lives with his patient wife and brilliant twins in Indianapolis, Indiana, right next to a State park and a Walmart. He enjoys hiking, reading, chocolate, spending time with his family, playing the piano, chocolate, not putting away his laundry, watching movies, and chocolate. He likes video games where mustachioed plumbers fall into pools of lava and thinks twenty minutes of Dance Dance Revolution counts as a full cardio workout. He has leveled up forty one times, but he hasn't grown up yet.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Ready Player One for the middle grade crowd. Bryan "Bilbo Baggins" Biggins spends most of his time playing the video game Sovereign of Darkness with his best friend, Oz, and pining after his crush, Jess Alcorn. He has been trying in vain to unlock a secret bonus level at the end of the game, one that Oz keeps telling him just doesn't exist. But he keeps playing, over and over, until he finally reaches it one night before bed. The next day, something strange happens. Bryan's life becomes a role-playing game (RPG). His middle school adventures turn into dramatized video game escapades, including an intense game of dodgeball, a recitation from Romeo and Juliet, and (in one of the strangest quests) an attempt to retrieve a Twinkie from the teachers' lounge vending machine. With fast-paced action and a fun, engaging voice, there is plenty here to hold interest. Some of the interactions with Bryan's adversaries (hall monitor, teacher, school bully, etc.) are a bit over-the-top, but that's to be expected given the subject. The video game parody is clever and would also appeal to adults with a fondness for vintage arcade games. VERDICT Anderson combines action and realistic middle grade issues with video game references to produce a winning pick that's ideal for gamers or reluctant readers.-Jessica Ko, Los Angeles Public Library © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this clever deconstruction of video game tropes, an eighth-grader's everyday routine is inexplicably turned into a game. Now Bryan Biggins's clothes grant stats (a holographic label identifies his shoes as "Boots of Average Walking Speed. Fire resistance +5%"), and completing various tasks and challenges grants him experience and allows him to level up. Running an errand (accepting a quest) for a teacher becomes a death-defying experience, a read-through of Shakespeare in English class takes on Choose Your Own Adventure qualities, and confronting a bully is like beating an end-level boss. Every time Bryan is close to defeat, he has to pay a coin in order to continue playing; he doesn't want to know what happens if time runs out. Anderson (Ms. Bixby's Last Day) presents an entertaining romp in which a mundane school day takes on epic qualities, but Bryan's "win" is contingent on him working up the nerve to chat up his longtime crush, Jess-a "get the girl" convention that's common enough in games but underwhelming in this context. Ages 8-12. Agency: Adams Literary. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.