First, can I just say how amazing the illustrations were for this book! Completely loved them. The story plot itself was fantastic, it gives a real insight into what really happens online and particularly in these role play games. More of a book for teens, something that will warn them of the dangers of online gaming and how they need to be careful who they interact with and what not to share. It also shows them that life in other countries isn't the same as what they see in their own life.

If the plot was just as good as the art then this would be my all time fav graphic novel, but unfortunately the plot just did not go far enough me for. 10/10 for drawing and use of colour though, it made this a lot of fun to read. Loved the main character too, I just wanted it to go so much further.

Depth. It's a word not often associated with graphic novel stories, but this one has depth.

Anda is recruited in her computer class at school to join an online game as long as she makes her character a girl. Anda jumps at the chance. Once in the game, she quickly excels and gains notice by another lady gamer who calls herself Sarge. Sarge recruits Anda to help fight off gold farmers. Gold farmers are people hired to play the game to collect gold that can be sold for real money to lazy players who want quick advances. Anda has no problems fighting this injustice in the gaming world, that is until she finds a gold farmer, Raymond, who speaks English. She finds out that he works crazy hours in China playing this game, doesn't get health benefits, is sick, and really doesn't get paid all that well. Anda suggests he go on strike, but that backfires in him losing his job. Meanwhile, Sarge finds out that Anda has gone soft on a gold farmer and she loses it. Anda doesn't give up on helping Raymond though, and eventually they find a way to help out him and others at his place of work.

This is a spectacular book in that it will help bring awareness of sweatshop conditions of numerous workers around the world to a group of students who are probably ignorant of such things. I applaud the creativity of Doctorow and Wang in bringing together gaming and human rights in such a way. It doesn't come off as preachy, but it does bring awareness and it also is likely to help students envision ways they can do something to help such people. A great discussion starter! I can see this jumping on numerous reading lists and book club selections. This edition is a rerelease of the original edition. Nothing has changed that I noticed.

Notes on content: There's some moderate swearing from Sarge on every third page or so where she appears. Also very rarely some mild swearing from Anda. No sexual content. There are battles in the gaming world. Occasionally a character is shown severed, but there is no blood. Raymond's situation is sobering, but not bloody or overly abusive.

In Real Life is an accessible book, especially in a middle school curriculum that is working to engage high interest reading, social justice discussions, and the role of individual responsibility. It's also a text that can be used in an ethics, economics, social studies curriculum on the hight school level too. Our kids are highly involved in the online gaming world, so the revelations about the allure, the time, the feeling of urgency is realistic, and actually made me think differently about my own children's online experiences. Kids are building these types of relationships online that are building teams, cooperation, loyalty, traits we want to encourage. However because adults, or rather mostly k-12 female teachers over 30 are largely ignorant of the allure of these types of games.

I was struck by the power of the story to share information, key skills that can change individuals' lives. The sharing on worker organization, acceptable standards of living, real working conditions for children would prompt many a classroom discussion. I also liked how this book attempted to address the paternalistic viewpoint that "western ways are always best."

The artistic aesthetic is attractive, colorful, and also reinforces the realistic experiences... mom and dad are heavy, protagonist isn't perfect either. The allure of the online world is the reinvention or recreation of oneself and the use of avatars can help prompt that discussion.

When this book comes out, I am going to recommend our high school history and theology departments consider reading/incorporating since their curricula specifically addresses the role of social ties and the calls to social justice.

My favorite part of this Graphic Novel was the art style, I absolutely adored it. It was a fun, fast, and exciting read. I read more than half of it in one sitting, but then sadly had to go to class, but immediately started reading it again the second I could. I thought that it was originally going to be about just a geek girl who is obsessed with video games, but I was pleasantly surprised with the social issues that were presented in it. I would have loved a bit more build up about the game and the different things that I could be done within it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I will forever hope for a continuation of this story with Anda and what else she does within the game.

Graphic novel with themes of anti-bullying, girl power, being safe on the internet, and economics. I love how Anda isn't stick-thin and when she feels powerful --not as a gold farmer killer, but strong in personality and self-esteem, she dyes her hair the same color as her avatar, which is metaphorical for taking on that positive self-esteem and asserting her anti-bullying ways IRL, too.

Interesting subject matter, beautifully drawn, will appeal to those that care about gaming and social justice issues.

In Real Life isn't just about a girl joining the online gaming world for the first time there is so much more to this story. I enjoyed the different culture that clashes in this book. For me, the characters were light with a strong plot. This is a fast read that has strong messages. I don't wanna give too much away but I enjoy this book.

I absolutely loved this graphic novel! The art is beautiful, and the story is a thought provoking one while still remaining entertaining. Anda is a new girl in town and when a female gamer comes into her classroom to talk about this female led guild in Coarsegold (a MMORPG) and Anda falls in love with it. Meeting a fellow member of the guild, they start missions taking out gold farmers, players who only make gold to sell for real world money (which is illegal) and Anda befriends one, and learns about his life in China. The story opens up the conversation of what is right, what's wrong and what's fair. It's a great starting ground for a conversation about where the things we have are from, and even what living and working conditions might be like somewhere else. It also starts the conversation on how we can be more compassionate. I will definitely be recommending this book at work.

I loved it! The intro by Doctorow was almost as good as the book. I loved the illustrations, the writing, and the story. Some great messages about bullying, seeing someone else's point of view, being brave and trying to make a difference. Highly recommend this one!

This is a great graphic novel for teens, especially those who play video games and MOST especially fans of online games like World of Warcraft.

Doctorow is treading over similar ground as he did in his novel For The Win, but in a simpler (and less preachy) way. The story is serviceable but I can't say I was ever fully invested since I've previously read For The Win. That said... it talks about important issues that teens and other young readers may not be aware of.

As noted in another review, the storyline moves very quickly and at times the conflicts can be too quickly resolved in a way that doesn't ever quite feel earned and I think this has a bit to do with the adaptation (though the source story is similarly paced at times).

That said, the artwork from Jen Wang is absolutely beautiful and really captures the fantastical online game, as well as Anda's less bright, and less exciting, real world.

I'm a bit hyper-critical of the book because I've read and LOVED so much of Doctorow's work, but there's a lot of great little moments and details through the story that will definitely appeal to gamers and other geeky YA readers. I know I would have loved it at 14!

This was a really cute graphic novel. It's about a high school girl who finds the different sides of MMRPG. I find it hilarious that her class had a speaker come in and sell the game to them. When I was elementary school, Subaru did the same thing to us even though we couldn't drive so that very believable to me. It's short so I find her conflicts and resolutions too quick. Should have been longer.

I received an electronic copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was definitely very interesting. I went into it knowing nothing and having only been familiar with it in any way because I had seen the cover floating around booklr and bookstagram. But story-wise I had no idea what this was going to be about... and I was pleasantly surprised! It is fantastically devoid of a love story, thank god! It focuses on the main character, Anda, who is offered by a guest speaker at her high school to join a guild on an online game. This guest speaker happens to be a fairly well known gamer, and Anda is inspired because she is a female gamer in an area dominated by males. So she joins, and the situation ends up being way more complex than she anticipated.

This book managed to tackle a couple of much more serious issues than I thought it would. I was thinking it would be Anda's coming of age story of her trying to fit in as a geeky game girl. But it's so much more! It's about learning about the world around you while your young, and figuring out how you can actually make a difference in the world. And most importantly it's about being as open and accepting of those around you as possible. Don't be a short-sighted bigot; you pursue your passion, and be kind and let other pursue theirs to. And help them along the way if you can.

At a couple of various points I do think the topic/theme of the book was a bit more grand than the story's setting. It's a graphic novel that takes place in high school and has a contemporary feeling - sometimes trying to tackle worldwide issues is just too big for this novel.

I would definitely recommend this graphic novel. It's a sweet story, very original, and easy to get through.

This beautiful, thought-provoking graphic novel introduces Anda, a high schooler newly-moved to Flagstaff, Arizona. This book avoids so many cliches: it doesn't dwell on angst about her move, she has a loving relationship with her parents, she's a girl gamer and programmer and that's no big deal, and she's overweight and that is never once an issue. There is no pursuit of a romantic relationship, either. This is about her--in current online parlance--"getting woke." She thinks gold farmers in her beloved Coarsegold Online are horrible until she actually gets to know one.

There is a lot of nuance and moral complexity to the book when it comes to the gold farmers, their roles within the online economy, and what their real lives are like: logged in at a computer for hours a day for little pay and likely no access to healthcare.

The artwork is incredible. Anda real-life body reminded me a great deal of myself as a teenager, and I immediately felt invested in her as a character. Jen Wang really did an extraordinary job illustrating the entire book. It's a joy to the eyes.

This is a book with continued relevance as online gaming becomes more mainstream and the economies within those digital worlds become more real, in a microcosm.

I am in the beginning phases of appreciating the beauty of graphic novels, and this is the first I’m reviewing. I received and eARC and read it on my iPad Pro and it was such a wonderful experience. The illustrations in this graphic novel were definitely some of the best I’ve ever seen. The colors were so vivid and eye catching, they were one of my favorite parts of this graphic novel.
I thought it had a very interesting storyline, like nothing I’ve ever read before. The game that was portrayed in the graphic novel seemed very fun, yet addictive at the same time. I loved that the story was based on friendship and not romance. It was quite the breath of fresh air. I almost felt as if the plot got lost throughout the middle of the story though.
Overall I had a wonderful time reading and enjoying the illustrations. I think if you are a fan of graphic novels you will definitely enjoy it. If you are new to graphic novels I also feel this is a wonderful place to start.

Interesting graphic novel about bullying and economics. Anda recently started playing Coursegold Online, a massive multiplayer role playing game. She loves it, especially when she discovers how to make real-world cash from it. Then she meets a young Chinese boy whose family and future depend on the money he earns from scamming the game, money Anda scams from him. The way both of them earn the money is morally wrong, and yet there is more depending on it than Anda first thinks.

In Real Life is a graphic novel about a teen girl playing a video game. The graphics were pretty good. They illustrate the story, the video game world, and most importantly, the differences between them. The real issue was the ethics of online game economics. It is ethically wrong to spend the time in the game only "farming" the resources for their gold in order to gain money in real life. The game isn't meant to be played that way, which is Anda and her friend stole from those farmers. But the book digs deeper into why the characters were farming the resources in the first place and examines it in the light of ethics and human need. The story does well in explaining it, and it is something people need to hear. However, that is the plot. It is so strong on the message that the plot isn't very compelling. Maybe the author wrote the story to fit the message?

I have complicated feelings about this one.

On one hand, I love the art. Jen Wang is obviously a huge talent and it shows through each panel. I loved that Anda was fat and that she enjoys playing online games and is in a club that plays D&D. It was also super cool to see this all girl gaming league. Anda’s parents are definitely on top of what’s going on in their daughter’s life and it was refreshing to see her mom take a stand against Anda receiving money from strangers online. I’ve seen a few reviews that talk about “What parent would care?” and the answer is… most parents. In the end, I was glad Anda’s mom relented on letting her play (even though she was still playing at internet cafes. It showed a nice balance between worrying for your child and monitoring their internet activity and letting them continue to pursue their hobbies and interests.

As for the subject matter in the book, I think it was a little heavy for the medium and the length of the book. Anda is being hired to kill other players in this game- “farmers” who collect gold that’s used for currency in the virtual world and selling it for actual money. I don’t know enough about online gaming to really comment on how this works, but Anda finds out that this person works 12 hours a day harvesting gold. They make a connection and she finds out that he is sick but isn’t allowed (or is to poor) to go to the doctor. This is really where the story lost me. I think it glosses over what’s going on in these game sites concerning poor people being used to harvest online currency to sell for real money. I’m still a little confused about how it all works. If the author wanted to bring up the terrible workplaces these people have to work in, I would think they would spend a little more time explaining it.

But they don’t. Instead, Anda tells Raymond (his “American” name) that he should stage a protest… which ends up costing him his job. But in the end, it all turns out ok because Raymond finds another job and the workers stage a protest and, hey, since a white girl led the rebellion, everything is super ok!!! White saviorism once again save the poor PoC and she did this from thousands of miles away! WOW!!!

And that’s where it lost two stars.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the artwork, this would probably be a 2 star book. Maybe even a 1.

I’m not recommending this one.

Doctorow has once again been able to make a relevant commentary on technology issues that will appeal to teen readers.

I really want to read this but many of the panels are blank and in a GN, that is not ok. Will you update the file? I have tried this on multiple devices . I will pick it up in February for sure. I recently heard Cory on IA he was great. I look forward to picking this up.