Gamer Girl

Gamer Girl

After Maddy?s parents divorce, she?s stuck starting over at a new high school. Friendless and nicknamed Freak Girl, Manga-loving artist Maddy finds refuge in the interactive online game Fields of Fantasy. In that virtual world, she reinvents herself as Allora, a gorgeous elfin alter ego, and meets a true friend in Sir Leo. Maddy can?t hide behind Allora forever, especially as a real-life crush begins edging in on her budding virtual romance. But would anyone pick the real Maddy, gamer girl and Manga freak, over the fantasy? This fresh, geeky/cool novel includes online chats and exciting gaming, and features Maddy?s Mangastyle artwork. Grade 7–10—Maddy feels as though her life just keeps getting worse and worse. Because her parents have divorced, she has had to leave her friends in Boston and move with her mother and younger sister to live with Grandma in New Hampshire. She has developed a mad crush on handsome, unattainable Chad, whose friends refer to her as Freak Girl. Maddy's only consolations are her beloved manga drawings and the online game Fields of Fantasy, which her father gave her for her birthday. As Maddy becomes more involved with the game, she creates a new identity for herself as a magical Elfin maiden named Allora, and meets the handsome knight Sir Leo online. Eventually Maddy realizes that she cannot continue to use gaming as a refuge from her real-life problems, and she finds the courage to confront both the clique at her school and her neglectful father. And even more importantly, she begins reaching out to potential friends by starting a manga club and entering Gamer Girl in a prestigious writing contest. This is a fun, quick but predictable story. Readers will guess the identity of Sir Leo long before Maddy does, and her grandmother is stereotypically fussy and interfering. However, the manga and gaming themes will appeal to many teen girls, including reluctant readers.— Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. After her parents’ divorce, Maddy has to leave her ultra-hip Boston life for a New Hampshire suburb, where she, her mother, and her sister stay with Grandma. Not only does Maddy have to deal with missing her friends and father, but Grandma ruins her first day at school by insisting she wear a unicorn sweatshirt and then by embarrassing a popular boy with stories of his childhood bed-wetting. Bullied by the in-crowd (“the Haters”), crushing on the wrong guy, and stuck with the nickname Freak Girl, Maddy escapes into her drawing and the online game Fields of Fantasy, where she can vanquish enemies and make friends far easier than at school. After encouragement from a sympathetic teacher, Maddy makes friends by starting a manga club. But just when things are improving, the Haters strike again. Mancusi believably captures the hopes, disappointments, and awkwardness of high school life. While the trendy elements may eventually become dated, the story of a girl finding her inner strength will always resonate. Grades 6-10. --Krista Hutley ...the manga and gaming themes will appeal to many teen girls, including reluctant readers. --School Library Journal Mari Mancusi used to wish she could become a vampire back in high school. But she ended up in another blood sucking  profession—journalism—instead. Today she works as a television news producer for the NBC station in Boston and has won two Emmys for her work. As if writing and TV producing weren't enough to keep her busy, Mari also enjoys snowboarding, clubbing, shopping, 80s music, and her favorite guilty pleasure—video games. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and two dogs. I couldn’t remember a day in the last year when I’d had as much fun. [Allora] (It’s late. Dad says I have to go to bed.) [SirLeo] (Yeah. Wow. I didn’t even realize it was midnight.) [Allora] (I know. Time flies when you’re having fun.) [SirLeo] (I had a LOT of fun.) [Allora] (I feel like I know you really, really well, and yet not at all.) [SirLeo] (Yes! It’s crazy. At least tell me where you live.) [Allora] (Um, I’m not supposed to say. Dad’s rules.) I realized how stupid I sounded. Sir Leo was going to think I was a total loser. Either that or I was completely uninterested in him, which was so not the case. [SirLeo] (Sorry, I shouldn’t have even asked. It’s just . . . well, I think you’re really cool. And I know you probably live a thousand miles away and would never want to anyway, but I just can’t help thinking how awesome it’d be to meet you in real life.) I stared at the computer, too dumbfounded to type a reply. Did I even want to meet him in real life? I mean, he thought I was a beautiful, sexy elf chick. If he met the real Madeline Starr, he’d probably run screaming in the other direction. Table of Contents GRANDMA’S HOUSE was a study of crystal and glass and contained 1,153 unicorns. I knew, because I counted one d