Walking in Two Worlds

by Wab Kinew

Hardcover, 2021

Status

Checked out

Call number

FIC KIN

Call number

FIC KIN

Description

Science Fiction. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:An Indigenous teen girl is caught between two worlds, both real and virtual, in the YA fantasy debut from bestselling Indigenous author Wab Kinew. Perfect for fans of Ready Player One and the Otherworld series. In the real world, Bugz is a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe. Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers. And as their connection is strengthened through their virtual adventures, they find that they have much in common in the real world, too: both must decide what to do in the face of temptations and pitfalls, and both must grapple with the impacts of family challenges and community trauma. But betrayal threatens everything Bugz has built in the virtual world, as well as her relationships in the real world, and it will take all her newfound strength to restore her friendship with Feng and reconcile the parallel aspects of her life: the traditional and the mainstream, the east and the west, the real and the virtual.… (more)

Publication

Penguin Teen Canada (2021), 296 pages

Original publication date

2021-09-14

Original language

English

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member sennebec
A blend of urban fantasy/sci-fi and cultural fiction is the best way I can describe this story. Bugz is an Indigenous teen girl who uses a place of power on her reservation to help her become dominant in an online virtual world. She invests an incredible amount of time and energy to build an
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awesome character and mythic creatures as allies. This investment in her VR world gives her self esteem that is sadly lacking in her everyday world.
When a new student, Feng, arrives to live with his aunt, a physician living on the reservation, he is intrigued by Bugz. Neither realizes initially they're opponents in the game. To make a long story short, they become closer in the real world and subsequently in the virtual one, but circumstances are such that what could work nicely doesn't and Bugz must face several painful realities. To go into more depth would create spoilers. Suffice it to say, there's a very good story here, but another lies beneath it, one that addresses the difficulty Indigenous teens have getting through daily life with any self affirmation. Read the book, it's well worth it.
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ISBN

0735269009 / 9780735269002
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