Anda is recruited to take part in an online gaming experience exclusively for girl gamers. Along the way she discovers that some of the features of the game are maintained by people in other countries working under unfair conditions. She resolves to do what she can to bring light to this situation and help these workers. Her actions as she tries to accomplish this goal get her into trouble in a few different ways. When the truth comes out about what she was actually doing, she is lauded for her efforts and given full membership of the game.
The introduction of this book makes some very powerful and thought-provoking statements about worldwide economics and the issues of unfair working conditions throughout the world. This book would be great for teachers to use to initiate or stimulate a conversation about this topic. It would also pair very well with other texts about child labor throughout time and around the world. A few minor cuss words used sparingly throughout the book might put a few teachers on edge, but they are used accurately within the gaming environment and mimic what real teens/gamers would say to each other. Boys, who are more likely to be gamers could be interested in this book, but I think that the target audience is girl gamers. Doctorow and illustrator Jen Wang do a great job of representing girl gamers realistically. The girls depicted in this books are normal-looking, normal-sized. They embrace their inner nerd. Likewise, Anda's family is normal, portly mom and dad with genuine mom and dad concerns about their teen daughter playing online. Girl readers will certainly relate to Anda and her fight to do what's right will inspire them to take a look at this issue.
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