The cover could do with being more up to date but the idea is good. Video games have become much more than just hobbies and this book will help those children and teens who wish to make a career out of video gaming. It explains the different positives and negatives to this field.
A good book that children will enjoy browsing.

I would suggest this book for all middle and high school media centers. Many students, especially boys, are interested in this type of career. Love that is has a glossary and websites to follow up with for the reader.

Publisher Norwood House focuses on 'informational' books for grades K-8. With these three books on gaming (Professional Gaming Careers, E-Sports Competitions, E-Sports Game Design), we get survey overviews in a picture heavy format that give a brief overview of the subject.

With Professional Gaming Careers, author Edwards gives the history of professional gaming, the pluses (fame, some fortune) and the minuses (carpel tunnel injuries, harassment of female players). At a quick 48 pages and with plenty of images, the book is a fast and kid-friendly read and suitable for book reports and discussions. There isn't an in depth analysis or discussions of the hardships of getting into the career (long hours of grinding, unpaid work, stressful competitions, interpersonal skills needed for team games, marketing oneself, free agent negotiations and landing an org, etc.). A few of the bigger games are mentioned (e.g., League of Legends since it is the biggest game at publication of this book) but not really discussed.

The book breaks down as follows: chapter 1: Hackers and early games; Chapter 2: What it takes to go pro; Chapter 3: Practice makes perfect; Chapter 4: Tournaments and more; Chapter 5: Gaming today and tomorrow. Note that this format pretty much follows all the books on egaming in the series: background, current state, future theories.

As a very friendly and brief overview of the subject, this makes a nice introduction to this very modern career. As well, this could also be useful for those who want to get into the career one day and have parents who don't understand that it is a legitimate occupation. This will help inform parents of the basics. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

So many kids love video games and dream of playing them professionally one day. This easy-to-read book explains everything about video gaming from the history right down to carpal tunnel syndrome. Boys, girls, children with learning disabilities, and children with low motivation to read would all benefit from this book. The material is organized in a logical and easy to view fashion and there are plenty of pictures to help the reader really learn about video gaming.

Once again the cover feels very 80’s. But it is a great companion to E-Sports Competitions. I really like how they cover female gamers, and that many are not treated the best by male gamers, but they are rising in their prowess in the gaming field. This book covers the beginning of pro gamers and what is changing in the field.

Added Goodreads
Added Litsy