Seth would love to spend his entire life playing online games - he's the 10th best player in the United States in Starfare - and he dreams of a career in South Korea where the champions play. As Seth muddles along in his life, he pays little attention to school and doesn't get the best grades - not because he's unintelligent but because he doesn't see the point in school when a career awaits. After playing well in a national Starfare tournament, Seth gains the attention of South Korea gaming sponsors who want a token American on their team. When team Anaconda offers Seth the chance to live out his dream, he is thrilled for a while. But he slowly begins to realize that gaming is not all there is to life and that he would like go back home and see his friends. The gaming jargon will appeal to a lot of male readers and make this book a hit.

I kind of want to be a Korean gamer now…

After reading In Real Life, I now want to learn everything I can about the Korean gaming community.

If you do any sort of gaming, even if it's just some occasional rpg, you should find this fascinating. Seth is a gamer and he's extremely good at what he does. His parents don't understand. They think he's wasting his life in front of a screen. However, when Seth has the opportunity to win a place on a Korean gaming team, life takes some unexpected turns. Vaulted into gaming superstardom, Seth has to determine what he really wants out of life.

While I knew there was a subculture to gaming, I didn't realize how extreme it is. Huge cash prizes. Fame. Endorsements. And highly, highly competitive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of a brilliant American teen who gets thrust into that sort of stardom. The book is simply fun - it's like a gaming Cinderella dream come true.

While I would have liked a little more detail about Starfire (the game he plays) and just the tiniest bit less in the way of teen angst, the book was a delight. Aside from gaming culture, I learned about Korean culture and now would love to take a Korean vacation.

Highly enjoyable YA.

I really enjoyed this novel. It was a good read that encompassed a great male lead that many of my students could relate to. While it may be a stretch that a student could live the same life, I can tell you that many would dream of doing the same. I think it shares a great message that things aren't always as great as they seem and that relationships matter. It was a quick read that kept my interest.

Seth (screen name, ActionSeth) is an expert at the online, PVP, strategy game called Starfare. Like, he's one of the best players in the country. Gets invited to play at Nationals (he doesn't win, but plays well and earns respect and $2000). His dream is to play on a team like they have in Korea, where gaming can be a career and gamers are nationwide superstars. Seth finds himself in a situation where his dream becomes reality. But does he really want it? At home, he finally has a girlfriend; does he really want to leave her? He's 16 and taking an advanced Calc class on a college campus because he's taken every math class at his high school and he loves it. Math might be his new passion; does he really want to give that up? But who can resist the opportunity to play video games as a career, make great money, and be a celebrity? Can ActionSeth have it all? Gaming teens, both readers and non-readers, are going to eat this one up. I'll definitely buy it for my library. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

Absolutely, positively GOLDEN! As a long-time Starcraft: Brood Wars and SC2 player, ActionSeth immediately appealed to me as a reader. At first, I thought this would be a whimsical YA fiction title that would only appeal to the small subset of hardcore gamers hiding out in their bedrooms with the curtains drawn. But Lawrence Tabak blew me away with an interesting, well developed protagonist and an exotic, impeccably researched South Korean backdrop. The whole novel was extremely well done and outstandingly enjoyable. 10 out 10, gg!!