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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)
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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.