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.