(3) YA Max is a quiet fourteen-year-old Brit who enjoys birds, video games, and geocaching. But his anorexia threatens to take all his attention and might be destroying his family. An endearingly intimate voice draws readers into Max's internal battle, including his notably complex feelings about masculinity and puberty. This tender story is hopeful but painfully honest about the difficult work Max's recovery will require.

Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald

(2) YA Emika Chen (Warcross) isn't over Hideo Tanaka, inventor of the virtual reality–enabling NeuroLink, which was redesigned to subvert people's free will. While preparing for the Warcross championship rematch game, Emika is courted by Hideo's nemesis (and long-ago-kidnapped younger brother), Zero. This edge-of-your-seat sequel propels readers through action sequences and intrigue in the shadowy Tokyo underground, even as they may ponder the ethical implications of biotechnology, virtual realities, and artificial intelligence.

Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2018

(3) 4-6 Mrs. Smith's Spy School for Girls series. In this second series installment, Abigail's mother is now headmaster at the posh boarding school that doubles as a secret training ground for spies. When a friend's father, a famous augmented-reality game designer, is kidnapped, Abigail and her classmates are tapped for a dangerous mission to save him. Nonstop action, more cool gadgets, and strong secondary characters should grab new readers and keep existing fans hooked.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(3) YA With her mom's death, her dad's remarriage, and estrangement from her best friend, sixteen-year-old anxious introvert Analee prefers online role-playing games to living in the real world. An arrangement to fake-date a popular jock, though, sets her on a course of self-rediscovery. Milanes delivers a diverse cast of fully fleshed-out characters with nuanced relationships and relatable situations in this complex, rewarding rom-com.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Xavier Bonet. Bart doesn't fit in at his new middle school and is targeted by bullies. But secretly he's been fine-tuning the code on his own interactive smartphone game, and it eventually becomes the game of the moment. When Bart orchestrates a very public revenge on his bullies, he ultimately connects with them instead. Cartoonlike black-and-white illustrations bring the game to life and add to the laughs.

Reviewer: Pam Yosca

(3) 4-6 Rogan Webber, twelve, spends most of his life in Virtual City, gaming his way to the top five in Laser Viper. Invited to compete in an exclusive, high-stakes gaming competition at the creator's cushy headquarters, Rogan eagerly agrees, but the young competitors soon realize the game feels alarmingly real. Video gamers especially will love this thrilling, high-tech adventure.

Reviewer: Jenn Matters

(3) 4-6 With Ali Fadhil. Eleven-year-old Ali lives with his Christian-Kurdish family in Basra, Iraq, during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Entranced with American television, comics, and video games, Ali is dismayed to be considered the "enemy"; why can't they just kill Saddam Hussein and leave Ali and his countrymen alone? Young Ali's engaging voice and perspective add appeal to this story based on contributor Fadhil's childhood in war-ravaged Iraq.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) 4-6 Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming series. Each of these informative titles introduces young readers to a specific popular video game, sharing--over four or five brief chapters--the history of each game's development, success, and fandom. Full-page sidebars feature key developers and related careers. Photos of game content, creators, and actual fans appear on every page and highlight the gaming industry's racial and gender diversity. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming titles: The World of Angry Birds, The World of Minecraft, The World of Mario Bros., and The World of Pokémon.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming series. Each of these informative titles introduces young readers to a specific popular video game, sharing--over four or five brief chapters--the history of each game's development, success, and fandom. Full-page sidebars feature key developers and related careers. Photos of game content, creators, and actual fans appear on every page and highlight the gaming industry's racial and gender diversity. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming titles: The World of Angry Birds, The World of Minecraft, The World of Mario Bros., and The World of Pokémon.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming series. Each of these informative titles introduces young readers to a specific popular video game, sharing--over four or five brief chapters--the history of each game's development, success, and fandom. Full-page sidebars feature key developers and related careers. Photos of game content, creators, and actual fans appear on every page and highlight the gaming industry's racial and gender diversity. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming titles: The World of Angry Birds, The World of Minecraft, The World of Mario Bros., and The World of Pokémon.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 4-6 Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming series. Each of these informative titles introduces young readers to a specific popular video game, sharing--over four or five brief chapters--the history of each game's development, success, and fandom. Full-page sidebars feature key developers and related careers. Photos of game content, creators, and actual fans appear on every page and highlight the gaming industry's racial and gender diversity. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Searchlight Books: The World of Gaming titles: The World of Angry Birds, The World of Minecraft, The World of Mario Bros., and The World of Pokémon.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(4) YA Mirador series. Seventeen-year-old Marisa (Bluescreen; Ones and Zeroes) pursues a dangerous mystery, hoping to finally understand the accident in which she lost her arm years ago. Facing mob scions, genetically enhanced agents, and her own father, Marisa must hack to survive in virtual reality–influenced dystopian Los Angeles in 2050. Intrigue and multifaceted characters keep readers hooked, despite a sometimes unevenly paced narrative.

Reviewer: Jenn Matters

(3) 4-6 Project Code series. Illustrated by Glen McBeth. These books include hands-on tutorials, available for download, to develop basic Scratch coding skills needed to create stories, animation, games, and music. Readers learn about underlying concepts such as binary instructions, loops, and repeats, and are encouraged to go beyond directives for deeper understanding. Accessible descriptions, short sections, and an appealing graphic layout recommend this series for self-guided learning. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Project Code titles: Create an Animation with Scratch, Create Computer Games with Scratch, Create Music with Scratch, and Create Your Own Story with Scratch.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(4) K-3 Translated by Jill Davis. On a rainy day in the country, the unnamed and ungendered narrator wants only to play a handheld electronic game. Forced outside, the child encounters talking snails then discovers the wonders of nature. The didactic story is further weakened by its unnecessary fantasy element, but beautiful mixed-media illustrations evoke the mood and strikingly contrast a bright orange rain slicker with the damp, dull woods.

Reviewer: Grace Worcester Greene

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Aleksandar Sotirovski. YouTube gamer Ali-A and his girlfriend Clare are at a game launch when the video game infects the entire world, turning all humans--except Ali-A and Clare--into helpless slime aliens enslaved by giant evil robots. While seriously lacking in originality, this fast-paced and action-packed graphic novel is entertaining enough, especially for fans of the real YouTube star Ali-A.

Reviewer: Jessica Costello

(4) 4-6 Orchard Novel series. Illustrated by Natalie Andrewson. New-to-town Peter feels left out when twin sis Olive spends more time with her new friends from Garrison's Apple Orchard (Ice Cream Summer). Through adventures both real and surreal, Peter learns the value of friendship and speaking up for himself. Fans of the realistic predecessor may find this sequel's detour into video-game fantasy somewhat jarring; still, the quick-moving illustrated plot has young-middle-grade appeal.

Reviewer: Amy Seto Forrester

(4) 4-6 Quartz Creek Ranch series. Kids come to Quartz Creek therapeutic horse ranch for various reasons: Ella's prone to outbursts (Speed); Rivka lashes out at her family's traditions after an attack on their synagogue (Home); Paley's addicted to online gaming (Summer); Hanna is painfully shy and, ironically, afraid of horses (Shy). Although the tweens' emotional problems get only superficial treatment, this hi-lo series provides plenty of realistic situations with horses. Review covers these Quartz Creek Ranch titles: At Top Speed, The Long Trail Home, One Brave Summer, and Shy Girl & Shy Guy.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(3) 4-6 Video-game fanatic Jeremy's cereal-box prize ring brings his favorite game to life and pits him against increasingly dangerous opponents. He also must enlist help from his book-loving, ever-responsible identical twin, Justin. In a comics style reminiscent of Bill Watterson's, Eliopoulos's digitally drawn, full-color graphic-novel panels convey a riveting plot, complete with wish fulfillment, relatable family dynamics, and an excellent sense of humor.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(3) 1-3 Press Start! series. In these early chapter books, Super Rabbit Boy is unaware he exists within a video game. Bright pixelated illustrations mimic video-game play, but the books occasionally pull back to reveal the child controlling the game in more cartoony scenes. This general conceit of a story within a story following video-game conventions will appeal to young gamers and encourage independent reading. Review includes these Press Start titles: Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy! and Super Rabbit Boy Powers Up!.

Reviewer: Jessica Bushore

(3) 1-3 Press Start! series. A cartoony scene shows three children playing a racing video game reminiscent of Mario Cart. Within the game, the kids are Super Rabbit Boy, Jody Racer, and Nugget, in competition with villain King Viking for the Super Cup. Bright pixelated illustrations successfully mimic video-game play in the dual-universe story line. The metafictive video-game-within-a-story conceit will appeal to young gamers and encourage independent reading.

Reviewer: Jessica Bushore