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School Library Journal
Reviewed on July 1, 2010
Gr 10-Up Wei-dong, known to his Orange County family as Leonard, is addicted to guild game play with his Chinese colleagues. Mala and Yasmin, brilliant strategists, are gaming from an Internet cafe in the poor streets of Dharavi. Matthew and Lu are trying to establish their own freelance gold-farming operation in the rough city of Shenzhen. Guided from Singapore by the secretive Big Sister Nor, these young people are slowly coming together and forming a union to demand basic working conditions and protection from organized crime rackets. In order to prove their strength, these W...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Magazine
Reviewed on May 1, 2010
While many YA novels have explored the ambiguous boundaries between virtual reality and the world as we know it (Ender's Game, anyone?), Doctorow's is the first I know of to take on the real-world economic implications of computer game currencies. As it turns out, this is a lot more interesting than it might sound. Matthew is a Chinese gold farmer, one of the thousands who play role-playing games for hours in order to accumulate virtual money, points, and treasures ...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Guide
Reviewed on January 1, 2010
Doctorow follows a handful of computer-gamers, gold farmers, and those who would take advantage of them, explorin...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on July 1, 2010
An engrossing novel that skillfully combines a brainy central concept with high-stakes action. The characters, including a feared teenage gaming strategist from India known as “General Robotwallah” and a California boy who sends himself to China in a shi...Log In or Sign Up to Read More