In Real Life

Tries to engage with real issues, but stops short of actually making a statement. Suitable for teenagers who will enjoy the pretty pictures, not recommended for adults who want to read it to learn something.

I really wanted to like this book because I had heard it recieved positive reviews, but honestly I felt disappointed. Firstly, the art is great, emotive and a nice choice of color palettes. The panels flow well and character designs are solid. The main issue with this book centers around the writing. I was glad to see a story that said it was about girl gamers, but it really wasn’t. Sure there was a girl group but the story quickly drops this aspect and moves on to the Chinese worker who mines gold. Anda is naive about unions in China and other issues in the real world on the other side of the globe. Anda is not unlikeable but she’s an odd character. She’s likable but naive and lacks confidence in the beginning but suddenly dyes her hair. At one point does not defend a girl who asked about board games. She instead is rude like the others. Suddenly she changes at the end but it felt forced. Her mother has issues with money appearing in her PayPal but then she’s cool with it. It was odd. The story wraps up too quickly and left me unsatisfied. In sum, the art is nice, the story so-so.

It’s a timely topic, the struggle of a young woman to play an immersive video game, but the recent explosion of debate over the place of women in gaming has unfortunately overtaken the events of In Real Life. It’s unfair of me to wish that the story of this graphic novel better reflected what everyone’s been forced to talk about over the past few months, but because the world has moved past this book, even though it’s just been released, it feels a bit outdated through no fault of its own. (The story was originally written in 2004, and Jen Wang adapted it to comics as well as drawing it.)

Anda is fairly good at computers, but she isn’t inspired until a gamer speaks to their class about her online guild in Coarsegold Online, an MMORPG (online role-playing game). The presentation is about the importance of playing as a girl character, of presenting views of active women in the game. Anda’s new friend Sarge shows her certain missions, raids where they’ll be compensated for killing gold farmers. Although one of the messages is about girls playing together and heaping each other, we don’t see Anda interacting much with anyone but Sarge, who recruits her into making money, and one of the gold farmers, who becomes a friend. Raymond lives in China and wants to learn English.

Writer Cory Doctorow stacks the deck by opening the book with an introduction that talks about how the book will address “a bunch of sticky, tough questions about politics and labor.” It’s great that he wants to tackle big economic issues and the importance of organizing into movements, but the book might have been a more gripping read with less attention to high-minded ideas, a little more time spent on entertaining plot twists. It takes In Real Life a while to get to the meat of the story, the premise that’s been promoted. (Ironically, he later praises our era for “the degree to which it allows us to abolish all the boring stuff that used to be required for any kind of ambitious project.”)

Jen Wang’s art is simply lovely, though, with a good sense of personality for each character. She transitions nicely between everyday life — giving it the drab ordinariness it needs for this story — and the fantasy beings of the game world. I did wonder about the choice to show Raymond as some kind of elf, an artistic choice that makes him seem cute, young, and harmless, like a doll. It slants the reader’s reactions, although it’s in keeping with the “everything works out ok” happy ending.

There are some great lessons here about realizing that the characters you’re interacting with online are people, with their own lives and struggles, but no one specifically attacks Anda for being female. She has her eyes opened about how privileged most American lives are in comparison to other places in the world, though. Don’t let my criticisms sway you too much — although I wanted to challenge some of the specifics of this story, I still enjoyed reading a tale about a girl’s experience in video gaming. (Review originally posted at ComicsWorthReading.com.)

I do my reviews in the form of questions

What made me pick this book up:
I found it on goodreads and the cover looked great and totally something I'd like.

What did I like about the cover:
It's anime style, which I love anime, and it looks like an MMO, which I love MMOs. It's also super bright and colorful and really adorable.

What made me read this book:
MMO? Video games? Anime style? Graphic novel? Yes, yes, yes, and yes.

What did I like the most:
The art is stunning. The colors are absolutely amazing.

The writing itself is really well done.

I really liked reading about a girl who is into gaming. I like reading about gaming in general. So seeing the game they put in the book was really interesting.
Definitely the type of game I would play.

Also with the main character, she was totally adorable and chubby. I loved seeing all the different body types, instead of just seeing all the same stick figure type in the whole graphic novel.

I feel like through the book the MC really grew. She went into the gaming world so naive and innocent and just had no idea what was really happening. After speaking with someone from China, who had to farm gold just to get a paycheck, she realized how crappy it was for people in other countries. It made her think about something, besides just herself and her tiny little world.
I think it's really great that the author showed how much you can actually learn from a game.

I also loved that her parents started off not understanding the game, and wanting to shelter her from it, and I feel like the parents actually learned a lot too.

What didn't I like:
It turned out to be so much more political than I originally thought it was going to be. I was hoping for a little more gaming and a little less real world issues.

Buuuut. I think that's also partially on me, because I didn't pay attention to the synopsis. I totally judged the book by it's cover *Bad Ash, bad!*

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
I think so, yes.

Overall:
Not what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it.

This graphic novel was a nice break between larger books. I enjoyed the fact that it was short and light, but I wish there had been a bit more depth. In the prologue, the author writes a heartfelt message explaining the economics involved with gaming and how the internet is a human construct (along with many other things) that has provided a means for organization in a new way. This little introductions was actually quite fascinating, but I wouldn’t have gotten the message from reading the graphic novel alone. In this case, the author had to tell instead of show. The plot of the novel itself was short and sweet, if not predictable and simplistic. That being said, it was entertaining, but not as profound as I would have expected given the introduction. The ending seemed a bit rushed and a bit too perfect, so I think that could have been fleshed out a little more.

The art style was lovely–the characters were well-drawn and the scenery was consistent. The paneling seemed a bit lazy compared to what I usually read (which is manga), but I think it worked well with the cutesy aesthetic of the story. If I’m being honest, I enjoyed the art itself more than the story.

I would recommend this as a quick read for anyone in need of a break from more complex, involved books. It was sweet, simple, and entertaining.

Anda has recently moved from her hometown, her grandmother, and her old friends. She has a hard time fitting in, made even more difficult but her physical appearances, struggle in ‘the real world’ and love of gaming. Previously, she’s only been playing off-line games, DnD with the boys at her school and games on her cell phone, until Liza the Organiza and president of Clan Fahrenheit in Coursegold Online comes and talks at her school. She offers the girls there a temporary three-month probationary membership to her clan with possible full-fledged membership afterwards if they can prove themselves, the only catch? To embrace themselves as girls, or specifically to be a girl in-game and out. Anda accepts and learns about economics, different cultures, languages, bullying, and helps a ‘gold farmer’ named Raymond when she finds out works online and in-game to survive in real life.

Doctorow and Wang do a wonderful job in illustrating and constructing a story and plot around a female gamer. An individual who wouldn’t consider herself attractive by female standards, doesn’t fit in and that feels more comfortable with DnD guys than looking in the mirror to do her make-up. This kind of graphic novel is great for the gaming females from age twelve to eighteen and speaks to them on a level of wanting to be more than they are, but also exposing that girls can have just a much a place in game as boys. It also shows that in-game or out, a girl can have the power to research, learn, and change her world and the world of those she cares about, whether they are a click or a continent away. A full-color graphic novel with decent paper and binding, wonderful cover illustrations, and a kick-arse female, virtual-reality-obsessed lead character.

Review first posted at Girl Who Reads. A free copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Anda is a gamer that was invited to Coarsegold Online. While there, she makes friends with others in her guild and even got to know a gold farmer from China. This makes her realize that games are more than just fun for people and that real life can be very different from a game.

I was drawn to this book by the author as much as the subject matter because I'd heard Cory Doctorow was a great writer but hadn't read his work before.

The characters in the book are all kinds of gamers: those who play MMO's, those who make fun of casual cell phone gamers, those who play pen and paper RPG's like D&D, those who make fun of them, those who play board games and those who make fun of them. These intersect in all kinds of ways because gamers tend to cluster together and "other" the other kinds of gamers they see.

Anda, like every other gamer that starts out in an MMO, thinks badly of those that deliberately play the game to collect items and sell them online. It's against the Terms of Service in most online games but overseas has become a profession for many people. Because these are real issues that people face, it definitely makes you think about the consequences of gaming and an online presence.

The art by Jen Wang is beautifully done, with more vivid colors used for the online world. If you're a gamer, all of the little details involved in the panels definitely play off the interface in most MMO's: the health meter, a mana meter, the menus with item drops and gold. Even the character creation panels have lots of detail in them, it's almost a shame we don't get a chance to see the rest of it. There aren't a lot of background characters or illustration, perhaps to showcase that the game is in beta testing, but it also serves to focus on the characters themselves. There are real players behind the avatars, which can be easy to forget.

The only downside to this book was that it was far too short!

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.

This gets a 3 for the artwork, but more like a 2 for story. I was really into the whole concept, but we did not get enough depth in the story. I wanted more from Raymond's world, and his perspective. Also, their connection fell flat for me. She was so concerned over Raymond's lack of health care, but gold farming is illegal, and therefore his job is not legit, so there is no way he'd have health insurance through work. That's like being concerned that the local drug dealer doesn't have good health insurance, so let's make his supplier pay for it. And then she suggested they strike? Organize a work strike for an illegal job? I mean, maybe in this book's world, in this game, gold farming was completely legal and the only offense was to players' pride, but there were too many parts that made me question the story for me to love this book.

But hey, Anda had a Sailor Moon poster, how cool is she?

Jen Wang's art: amazing. The story? Meh.

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. I mean, they are obviously different universes, but first time players can sometimes get mixed up between the fantastic beauty of the avatars verses the actual appearances in real life. That wasn't the issue in this book, but I was glad it was there all the same.

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?

In Real Life is an interesting graphic novel for teens that addresses some of today's problems in MMO's through story.

I received a complementary copy of this book. All opinions are my own, and I did not receive compensation.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This is an honest review.*

I was incredibly taken in by Jen Wang’s artwork. I originally requested a copy of this book because I really like Cory Doctorow and thought the summary of the book looked interesting, but one of the strongest points of the book was the artwork. It helped a lot in terms of feeling the difference between Anda’s gaming world and how fantastic it was as compared to her “real life” outside of the gaming world. I also think that the way that the Chinese gold farmers were illustrated did a lot to communicate their situation.

Overall, book is an interesting idea of playing with the idea of “real life” as the title implies. The conceit of the book, that real life can be in play even in these fantasy worlds of MMOs, was a really interesting one and something that I think a lot of people probably do not think about overly much. It felt like a very realistic portrayal of a teenager who is able to escape into a game, and I was never taken out of it by the reaction of her parents (being overly protective) or her fellow gamers, who maybe took the game a little too seriously. It all felt incredibly plausible in a general sense.

That said, I am not entirely sure how strong I felt the solution to the main issue of the book was. I think that bringing in the idea of organized labor was interesting and something that makes a lot of sense. I feel like the conclusion of the book just progressed too quickly, however, and as a result, felt like it was not a fully developed conclusion. I thought the idea was brilliant and really liked the friendship that was built, but was just left feeling like something was missing. That said, I love Doctorow’s worldview and conviction that the internet is going to potentially lead to people being able to come together and solve some of these bigger problems around the world. This book is definitely worth a read, and I would love to see a follow up to the story.

I’m a Cory Doctorow fan. I loved Little Brother, and I was fascinated by For the Win, which examines the lives of “gold farmers” – people whose job it is – in real life – to acquire gold and magic/rare items in games, and sell them to players for real-world currency. The gamers – which include children – are from poor families in third-world countries: India, China, and Singapore, working in deplorable conditions, and exploited by sweatshop bosses who pay pitiful wages.

In Real Life is a graphic novel about a girl named Anda, who loves playing a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) named Coarsegold. She makes friends in the gamespace, ultimately falling in with Lucy, a more experienced gamer who takes Anda under her wing. They stalk and “kill” the “gold farmers” they encounter, believing them to be cheating by selling gold and rare items to fellow gamers. The farmers look small, almost childlike, and Anda – despite doing this in the gamespace – feels guilty. She strikes up a friendship with one of the farmers, a Chinese teenager named Raymond, who tells her about his life and his job – laboring under sweatshop conditions to farm so that he can help support his family – and Anda decides that something needs to be done.

The story is similar to Doctorow’s plot in For the Win, but without delving into the global politics and economics involved in the novel. I loved this graphic novel, which could be an introduction or supplement to For the Win. We get to see positive representations of female gamers, teenagers, and we have a moral central character who is forced to understand that even morals don’t come solely in black and white. At the same time, In Real Life calls attention to a form of human rights violation taking place all over the world, yet located in our homes, our libraries, and anywhere we game.

Jen Wang’s art is perfect for Doctorow’s story. She’s got a manga style that works for me. Her use of color works to as a soft contrast to the tech storyline, and brings out the humanity at the tale’s core.

Description: Anda begins playing a MMORPG after receiving a RL invitation to join a girls-only guild. In the game she meets and befriends a teenage Chinese boy who is a gold farmer. Morals and ethics are questioned as Anda fights for her new friend.

In Short: This beautifully illustrated graphic novel tackles themes of child labor, bullying, and poverty, against the backdrop of a sweet and inspiring story. I definitely recommend it to those who enjoy video games. Being a gamer girl myself I was drawn to this book and I was not disappointed.

Pros: I love the protagonist, Anda. She is such hero. She defends the oppressed. She befriends the excluded. Anda is someone who appears to be an underdog herself, a new girl that doesn’t have a lot of friends. But she really is a fighter for the little guy. Not to spoil it or anything, but she does make a difference. Overall awesome story. Fun to read and beautiful artwork.

Cons: I have no notable issues with this book.

Parent’s Guide: There is cartoon violence. No nudity or sexual content.

Full review on the blog on 9-29-2017.

When I discovered this graphic novel, I was immediately hesitant. Video games and the people who play them are so often misrepresented or poorly researched in media at large that I worried how this book would handle MMORPGs (massively multi-player online role-playing games) and their players. At the same time, however, I was curious, and the art style of the book looked fun. And perhaps a graphic novel, itself a maligned art form in film and television, would do the subject matter the proper justice, or at least do a better job of it.

While I enjoyed the art style and the book does try to bring important issues to light, I feel like it tries to bite off more than it can chew at times. Still, it was a fun read, and one that brings some important issues to light.

"In Real Life" follows Anda, a student who finds herself playing Coarsegold Online, an MMORPG, after a gamer invites many of the girls in her technology class to join an all-female guild (because girls are under-represented in the gaming world, according to said gamer). While exploring the virtual world, Anda meets a fellow player, Sarge, who shows her how to earn money -- real-world cash, not in-game gold -- by killing off gold-farmers -- players who collect gold so it can be sold to other players. At first Anda participates with gusto... until she meets Raymond, a teenager from China who farms gold in order to help support his poor family. As Anda and Raymond learn more about one another's worlds, Anda realizes she's in a position to help Raymond better his situation... but Sarge doesn't take kindly to her befriending a gold farmer, Anda's parents are suspicious of her online activity, and Raymond's co-workers don't trust an American meddling in their friend's life. Can one teenage girl really make a difference?

I'll get the key problem out of the way first -- Cory Doctorow throws way too many issues at the reader, hoping one of them will make an impact. The lengthy foreword states that this book is about economics and the impact of the Internet on our ability to change the world, but the book itself brings up a plethora of other issues -- gender equality, cyber-bullying, Internet safety, health care, worker's rights and workplace reform, cultural differences, wealth and classism, etc. The problem with having so many of these issues in one book, however, is that none of them get the attention they deserve... especially in a graphic novel, where much of the page space is (or should be) dedicated to images and action instead of the issues he wants to address. Doctorow should have picked one or two of these topics to make the focus of his book, instead of trying to cover them all in one shot.

That aside, however, I did enjoy the book quite a bit. The art style is pleasing, just stylized enough to avoid falling into uncanny valley, but not so stylized as to render everything alien and unrecognizable to the reader. I also liked how the real world is rendered in more realistic and earthy shades, while the world of Coarsegold Online is rendered in brighter, more vivid colors. It helps set the real world and virtual world apart for the reader. The characters are curiously flat, meant to represent ideas and issues more than actual characters -- the closest we get to an actual character is Sarge, who exhibits classic characteristics of an online bully at first but then shows an actual decent side to her character later on. And like other reviewers, I found Anda's mom's change of heart too abrupt. Some justification for this would have been nice.

My biggest fear regarding this book -- that it would fail to do its research when it came to gaming in general and online gaming in particular -- turned out to be largely unfounded. Aside from kids being recruited from school to play in a game, most of the rest of Coarsegold and its system seem logical and well-researched to me. Coarsegold's virtual world seems to be a mix of World of Warcraft and Gaia Online, with highly customizable avatars, a hit-point and magic/mana system similar to WoW's, leveling up, etc. Even the "gold farming" concept is founded in reality -- yes, there are people who will use real-world money to buy gold and items for their characters... and yes, there are people in developing countries who farm gold full-time to make a living.

I do wish Doctorow had narrowed his focus to one or two issues instead of trying to cover all his bases in one graphic novel -- it could have made for a much tighter narrative. But that aside, this is still a good graphic novel, especially for teens. It touches on some important real-life issues, represents the gaming world well, and has an enjoyable art style as well. And while not the best graphic novel I've read this year ("Nimona" still holds that top spot for me), it's still a decent and informative read.

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow, illustrated by Jen Wang is an amazing graphic novel about gaming and how it crosses over into the real world. Filled with elements of family dynamics and teenage struggles, poverty and company politics, and even bullying, I thought that each topic was handled really well.

I loved the style of this graphic novel! The artwork is very cute and the color palette is lovely. There were many panels that I paused to think, "Wow, this one is stunning!" The expressions of all the characters were also done really well!

I loved that we dove right into the game when Anda does, literally starting where a normal MMO would; with character creation!

One of my favorite elements of this graphic novel was that it moves seamlessly from in-game to really life.

IN REAL LIFE is one of those books that is about something that has become so important in recent years following the Gamer-gate stuff. While I didn't particularly care for the artwork most of the time, I did like the fact that the book celebrated gamer girls and tackled the subject of bullying. However, I had to dock one star because I didn't care for how the relationship between Anda and Raymond was handled. (For me, Raymond wasn't a fully developed character, which was unfortunate; he seemed more like a story device.)

I should note that while I didn't particularly care for the artwork in the beginning, the design of the story when in the game are absolutely stunning. The colors pop and create this vivid online world. It's outside of the game when I felt the artwork suffered.

All in all, IN REAL LIFE is a positive story that deserves to be read.

I'm a gamer and I love MMO's and enjoy reading/watching fiction that involves them, so I read "In real life" one day to give it a try. I have to say, it was pretty ridiculous. I wonder if the writer actually plays MMO's, or if they just looked up some stuff and went from there, because the game the girls in the story play doesn't seem to have any rules or make any sense. Real MMO players will find themselves shaking their heads at the level one newbie getting hired by other players to take out monsters for them. Or for that matter, a level 3 being hired for REAL MONEY to kill gold farmer avatars. How is she killing them anyway? There's no game that allows PVP anywhere and everywhere...
I'm getting distracted. I understand it's a work of fiction and it's normal a few rules would be bent, but this is less about rules being bent and more no rules at all.
There are some good things about "in real life". The art is very enjoyable and unique, I liked the main character and some of her friends and most of the dialogue seemed fine. Also despite not making sense game-wise, the game itself was made to seem very interesting and I wish we could've seen more focus on that.
That leads me to the other big issue, that the graphic novel is not about a girl playing an MMO, it's about Chinese workers being treated unfairly, health care, and to a lesser extent, bullying. A large part of the plot has to do with chinese gold farmers, but the story just ignores whether this practice is wrong or not, and instead focuses entirely on the "poor people" in china who do the gold farming. It even goes as far as to make one of the main character's friends a bully because she hates gold farmers, but...everybody in MMO's hates gold farmers. They're a serious problem. It feels like this could be a problem for readers who pick up this book because they're gamers and want to read about that...but instead end up with a book about hard working conditions in a foreign country.
I don't mean to be too hard on this book, but I wouldn't recommend it unless the person knew what they were getting themselves into.

Doctorow has a well-deserved reputation for very original writing, combined with an often acerbic take on contemporary society, especially its technological aspects. He demonstrates that nicely in this graphic novel that explores the real-world economic effect that online games have in the developing world.

Anda is a very bright (and slightly chunky) teenager recently transplanted from San Diego to Flagstaff, who’s basically just floating along, dealing with whatever comes up, and hanging out with the other geeks. And then a young woman comes to her class to promote Coarsegold, a huge MMP -- and more specifically, to recruit girl gamers to play as girls. Anda is intrigued and talks her mother into letting her subscribe. Turns out she’s a natural as a female warrior. Things are looking good.

Then she hooks up with “Sarge,” a more experienced player, who takes contracts from other subscribers for real money, mostly to kill off rival gold-farmers within the game. As she gets in deeper, Anda finds she doesn’t much like the whole gold-farming sweatshop world that lives off gaming and uses up many young lives in the process, especially in China. And her father happens to be a labor organizer, so she has some hopefully useful ideas.

Cory manages (most of the time) to tread the fine line between straight storytelling and preaching. And one hopes that the gamers who are most likely to read this book will learn something from it and become at least a little radicalized.

IN REAL LIFE by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang is aimed directly at young online game players who may be unwittingly drawn into the hidden world of virtual economics and illegal gold farming. In this compelling graphic novel for youth, Anda is faced with the real-life consequences of what at first seems to be a fun new online game. The book’s cover does an exceptional job illustrating the dual worlds of online gaming and the real-world.

Doctorow’s powerful introduction to IN REAL LIFE provides an overview of the timely issues discussed in the book. From Minecraft for younger children to World of Warcraft for teens and beyond, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Games (MMORPGs) are popular with youth. Recently, some of these online games have morphed into examples of living economics with millions of dollars of virtual merchandise being traded. Although many game developers have banned gold farming, it continues to be a real problem impacting both game play and the illegal activities often associated with taxation and labor issues. Cory Doctorow has tried to raise awareness of these issues in previous works like the short story ANDA’S GAME and novel FOR THE WIN.

Jen Wang’s beautiful, bold illustrations will appeal to the target audience. Her portrayal of authentic body-types in the real-world sequences and visually-rich fantasy elements in the gaming segments make the illustrations perfect for young people.

The focus on girls-only gaming along with a thought-provoking message will make this graphic novel an outstanding addition to the growing number of works for youth that explore the fascinating world of online gaming.

Role Playing Games

Seriously whats better then a book with a strong female cast and references to MMORPG’s? (Thats “massive multiplayer online role-playing game” for those of you who don’t playing online games.) Answer- Nothing! I have a special place in my heart for graphic novels, comics, and manga. It’s what I grew up on and propelled me to get into illustration and graphic art as I got older.The story follows Anda a relate-able girl who learns of an MMORPG through a guest speaker at school. Interested she decides to check it out and comes in contact with some heavily debatable topics.

Final Thoughts

Gold farming, labor laws, and self esteem issue- this book tackles a lot of tricky subjects very well. I don’t want to ruin the book but being able to watch someone grow as a character in a graphic novel format is extremely satisfying and heart warming. Anda goes from this sweet timid girl to an outgoing, energetic young women with an amazingly big heart. You go girl!

Would I recommend this book?

Yes! Seriously, if you like reading graphic novels and enjoy gaming this book is perfect for you. I would absolutely recommend this book, I would shout it out from the rooftops if I could.

Review can be found here: https://parttimebooknerd.wordpress.com/2015/03/31/in-real-life-cory-doctorow-jen-wang/

"IRL: In Real Life"
Written by Cory Doctorow
Illustrated by Jen Wang
(First Second, 2014)
. . . . .

An immensely appealing, quick-read graphic novel about a mopey adolescent girl who joins an online multiplayer game (the fictitious Coarsegold) and initially finds escape and self-esteem in the game's virtual reality and then discovers challenges and purpose "in real life" as the rules of the game reveal flaws in the "programming" of life. The girl, Anda, creates a kick-ass warrior avatar, playing as a female character and soon discovers she's a natural at the violent fantasy play -- but when she joins an online group that attacks so-called gold farmers (players who earn points to sell for real-world money) she becomes morally conflicted after discovering the harsh conditions that the gold farmers work under in foreign lands.

Author Cory Doctorow uses the alternate realities of online gaming to make an economic argument contrasting the privileges of people in developed, Western countries with the desperation felt by poor people across the globe. At first the political slant may feel like an intrusion into the fluid fantasy world of the story itself (which it is, but on purpose) but Doctorow and co-creator Jen Wang handle the narrative so skilfully that the book remains a delight from beginning to end.

The strong positive presentation of "girl" gamers is an major plus-point for this story. (This is especially true in an era when some male gamers still remain so wrapped up in their own masculine fantasies that they will actually threaten prominent female players in real life if they dare criticize or comment on gaming culture... Seriously: WTF??) I also appreciated that the real-world Anda is is a zaftig, heavyset gal -- Doctorow doesn't comment on this or call it into focus in the text, but Wang's illustrations present Anda as a refreshingly realistic, un-Barbie doll girl, often dressed in baggy clothes to conceal her body, though she gradually comes out of her shell, as her confidence in the game increases her confidence in real life. To me, this makes her an even more appealing character, although on reflection I realized that her choice of an idealized, slim-trim "hottie" avatar also is never commented on, so we have a character whose literary appeal as a un-glamorized, realistic everyday person is perhaps undercut by the unquestioned embrace of a conventionally "hot" female avatar... Still, this is a great book, ideal for male and female readers of all ages. And yes, it's a little preachy, but not in a bad way -- it doesn't interfere with our enjoyment of Anda's story, and yet it widens our understanding of the world, the same as it does for Anda and her friends. Highly recommended! (DJ Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the artwork. It is beautiful and very well done. If I was just basing this book on the art it would have gotten 4 stars. However, the story needs some work.

I understand that the idea was to show a character who lives a privileged life to find out that not everyone has the same opportunities, but the resolution made it seem like she fixed the problem in China. The Chinese gold miner story line was way too oversimplified. This is not how any of that would have worked in real life though. All I could think is that the company that Raymond worked for would have just hired more players instead of a strike actually working. Also, a strike would have taken a lot longer to pan out in the real world and this book made it seem like it happened fairly quickly. The resolution was just way too simplistic and problematic.

Some other thoughts I had on the novel:
• The game Coarsegold Online is very similar to games like World of Warcraft. It's not my type of game but I see the appeal.
• I liked the main character, Anda. She is very kind and caring if a bit naive.
• I loved the idea of an all-women’s guild and encouraging girls to play video games. I really wish that society could get past the misconception that women don't play video games.

This graphic novel covers a plethora of issues young gamer girls deal with, and the stumbling blocks that continue to be prevalent. The story deals with a young girl adjusting to change in her life by entering into an online game community, and the struggles and problems she faces along the way.

The story can come off as a little preachy, but has an overall great message of harmony and cooperation when dealing with people and gamers from all walks of life. I highly recommend for any young gamer.

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a darling book that deals with a plethora of topics all within an appealing "gamer" plot. I found the gamer plot fascinating not knowing much about that myself. Doctorow presents a coming of age story for a young woman. She's a typical teen, a bit of an outsider, plus-sized, and lacking a bit in self-esteem. She is introduced to the world of MMORPGs where the author explores such themes as female gamers, online safety, the real people behind avatar identities, online reality vs "real life", healthcare, our freedoms living in a democratic society vs the struggle for existence in a communist country. I particularly found it refreshing that Doctorow manages to tackle all these topics without resorting to politics. Deep, deep themes all told within a light-hearted, fun story with a main character one can't help but love as we see her subtly change as she matures, takes control of her life and becomes empowered. I love, love, loved this!

This is a very successful depiction of a young girl growing up and learning to judge situations for herself. The world is a harsh place and seeing it for the first time can cause some very difficult emotions to come up, you have to re-evaluate how you look at the world, and how you look at yourself. Anda is an incredibly smart and capable young woman, and I am so proud that girls today have protagonists like this to look up to.

I flew through this book and all I want to do is keep re-reading it. The art style is simple but incredibly fluid and the colors are simply lovely.

Please pick this book up.

The first thing that I fell in love with in this book was the artwork. It is truly amazing. Not only is the cover amazing, but the artwork throughout is some of the best that I have seen in a graphic novel.

The basis of the story line was also what brought me to want to read this graphic novel. The main character is a female gamer and she helps friends from across the world, not only in the game but also in real life.

I do not want to give away too much of this story, so I will keep this short. You will want to read this graphic novel if you want great artwork and a sweet and engaging story line.

Recommended Reading Age: 13+ for some foul language (2-3 throughout the graphic novel)

Overall Rating: 4/5

I got a copy of this graphic novel to review through Netgalley. I really really loved it. I thought it was incredibly engaging and also an interesting commentary on some of the unique issues facing our world today.

Anda gets recruited to play in an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role playing game) called Coarsegold. She loves it, it gives her an escape from her real life (where she is a new student at a new school and definitely not the prettiest or most popular girl) and helps her build confidence in her real life as well. She teams up with some other players to take out gold farmers (people who farm gold and sell it to other players for real world money). Anda spends all her freetime playing Coarsegold, but starts to wonder about things when she befriends one of the very gold farmers she’s been hunting down in the game.

Anda finds out that the gold farmer she befriends is actually a kid who lives in China and works under awful conditions. She takes it upon herself to try and help him get better working conditions in his real life.

The whole story is a fascinating story that wouldn’t even make sense 10 years ago. It’s an interesting look at how MMORPGs can both help and harm people in real life. It also is a social commentary of how such games can bring people together worldwide, they literally make the world a smaller place. Additionally it looks at working conditions in poverty stricken countries.

Anda gains confidence through her success in Coarsegold and this helps her navigate everyday life at school better. People notice that she feels better about herself and this helps her make real life friends. Anda also learns about how big of a place the world really is and how some of her problems are maybe not that awful compared to what kids in other countries are going through.

Additionally there is a darker side to the story. The story also discusses how third world countries will nearly enslave their populations in order to take advantage of countries where people have a lot of disposable income. This includes some discussion around child labor laws and workers rights, things we take for granted here in the US.

I really enjoyed it a lot and found myself incredibly engaged in the story. I was really pulling for all of the characters and was surprised how much I cared about them despite how short the story was.

The illustration was decent, I liked it but wasn’t blown away by the detail or anything. It is well enough done that it does add to the story quite a bit and it is never confusing to follow what’s going on.

Overall I loved this graphic novel. It’s an interesting combination of coming of age story, social commentary, and fantasy adventure. I found it completely engaging. I think a lot of gamers will love it. I think everyone should read if just to get a glimpse into the MMORPG culture and how it can help people come together.

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro

In Real Life brought back so many good gaming memories! I was definitely able to relate to some aspects of the story, such as the difficult process of moving from what one calls and feels like home, to a new place that seems foreign to us; making friends across the world via the internet; wanting to be a female character in certain games when you could only play boys; my parents’ worry over who I befriended without knowing them physically and who they really were; the life of a teenage girl in general. But, just like Anda, there were its positive results that led me to something great, now in my life, OBS, in the vast virtual world that is the internet.

At the start of the novel, the author explains what In Real Life is mainly about. The reader can’t just see it as another graphic novel about virtual games, but about the big enterprise that is behind it and that we sometimes just don’t see. Anda lives her teenage life as normal as it is to her; she spends time with her family, she goes to school, she creates and plays games with her friends, but when the opportunity comes to be someone else in a virtual world that you can practically mold to your like, she immediately takes the chance.

What she doesn’t know, is that even a simple virtual game can bring great changes to her life and those who surround her. In such a short lapse of time, Anda matures from a role playing game girl to a girl trying to make a change on human rights all from across the world through her computer and an internet connection. She learns to see beyond the avatar and user name.

Another thing I was very pleased with was the illustration. The difference between how the real world and virtual world are described is very detailed and clear. The backgrounds change from warm colors like brown and yellow, to bright greens, reds, and blues to make a difference when Anda is inside Coarsegold playing. In Real Life is such an amazing and refreshing graphic novel to read and appreciate it’s hidden details (I saw you Sailor Moon,) to the point that you can’t put it down.

All in all, In Real Life is a must read novel for RPG (Role Playing Game) girls and readers in general because it’s just not virtual games, it’s more than that; it’s real life.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

I've been in a very graphic novel mood recently and I have a whole list of ones to read. This one was a totally random find. I was browsing at the library and it was sticking out of a display. I thought girl + gamer=awesome. So here we are.

Anda is totally hooked on Coarsegold Online, a MMORPG, and she is having so much fun. She gets to be everything she is not in real life and make friends at the same time. When Anda joins a friend on quests to kill "Gold Farmers" she barely bats an eye. They are cheating the system and that is not cool. That is, until she meets one. After talking to him repeatedly she learns not everyone is so well-off and sometimes not everything is as it seems.

This was a great premise for a middle reader/YA graphic novel. Not only does it show a teen girl playing games and being good at them but it also raises topics such as protesting/health care/economics/bullying/online safety/etc. That's a lot of topics to cover in so few pages. Some were handled much better than others but the fact it existed at all is amazing.

Anda was a pretty neat character although she was a tad two-dimensional. Other than watching her kick some serious butt in Coarsegold, we never really get the sense of who she is. I'm not sure if the authors were shooting for her being the face of girl gamers everywhere with little depth or rather I just missed it. Anda could have been anyone. She was a girl who gamed who started to realize the world was bigger than just her. It's a great sentiment but I never really connected with Anda.

At the same time the graphic novel introduced the topic of teenagers working in poor conditions elsewhere in the world without health care. It discussed topics about protesting unfair conditions and the ramifications of those protests. It also brought up bullying and standing up for one's self regardless of who you are. It's a great topic and it showed both sides, success and failure, pretty well.

It also did a great job at showing how small the world is inside the internet. It showed how easy it is to spread information. A lot of people do not see it that way. Day after day teachers are posting sheets of paper with messages urging others to share it to show students how fast it travels and where it goes. This graphic novel used it in a more constructive way by trying to help people out across the world. Powerful stuff.

I highly recommend this graphic novel to all ages. While I think a lot of information was tackled in a short amount of time and some aspects should have just been left out for sake of space, it tackled a lot of stuff and was very informative.

3 Stars
Published by First Second
October 4, 2014
187 Pages
Provided by--the Library

http://hulsey2007bookblog.blogspot.com/
I loved this book. The cover I think is absolutely gorgeous and reflects the story really well. I read this book in 1 sitting and its very hard for me to do that. Since I have kids. This was just such a good story. It is a young adult graphic novel. But I enjoyed it so so much. I was not expecting to enjoy this story as much as I did. For graphic novel lovers. I would highly recommend this story. This would also be a great graphic novel for first time readers.
It was funny, the graphics were beautiful. It made me want to play along with CourseGoldOnline. This is definately a story to read.

I've been wanting to pick this up for such a long time so I was extremely excited I was approved me to read it. This was way more than I expected! First, I LOVE the art. The style and colors are fun and beautiful. Second, this story was interesting and I think important for all the different issues it brings up. Of course like with most graphic novels I always want it to be longer but I feel it was still a good length and ended well.

This is definitely a book that’s Trying To Tell You Something! But the central character, teenage girl Anda, has a fully developed personality, and the plot has some surprises, so I can forgive it the heavy-handed message. Anda’s experience with the online multiplayer game “Coarsegold Online” shows the power of video games and online spaces to connect people who might not otherwise see each other. The book is about making mistakes, and being forgiven, which is something we can all benefit from reflecting on. Wang’s art here made me want to track down more of her work!

This was fine, I guess. Jen Wang's art is as amazing as ever, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired. It's a white savior narrative that does a very poor job in discussing a complex issue and solves said issue in the most asinine way possible. I can appreciate what Cory Doctrow tried to do with this, but he really dropped the ball on this one.

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've not read many graphic novels, though I've always really wanted to get into them because I have such an interest in comics. So the other day during my lunch at school I was sitting in the library near the graphic novels and I had just happened to see this one on the shelf. I had been meaning to buy this one because it's about video gaming online (which is something I do), so when I saw it there I squealed with glee and decided to pick it up and read it. I'm so glad that I did!

Anda comes home one day from school after being asked to be join a guild online for the game Coarsegold. Her mom is totally cool with it, so she joins and begins playing. She ends up becoming a person who goes around and gets rid of players who are illegally buying and selling items to make money, though she's making money herself by doing this. She's completely okay with doing this until she befriends one of them, and finds that he's the same age as her but has to work tireless hours with so much pain in a factory. It's horrible and Anda wants to do something about it.

I really enjoyed this book, especially because of the video game aspect. I also liked how this book showed what life is actually like for kids in other parts of the world-it definitely raises awareness. I also really enjoyed how this book brought up the idea of girl gamers. I myself am one which is pretty awesome. I've not known any girls that have been harassed online for gaming, though I have heard some terrible stories about it, so I appreciate how this book had a girl gamer protagonist. All in all, this was a really enjoyable graphic novel that I'd definitely recommend.

Not gonna lie… I picked up this book because of the awesome art and it did not disappoint. The colorful art is beautiful and well-drawn and five kinds of amazing. The actual story, on the other hand, did disappoint. The first half of In Real Life sets up an interesting story about Anda, who gets into playing Coarsegold Online and then befriends a Chinese teen who gold farms for a living. Issues such as feminism, poverty, and worker exploitation are brought up… and then later tossed aside.

In the second half of In Real Life, the story pacing goes haywire, speeds up rapidly, and ties up the entire conflict in a way that smelled really, really strongly of the white savior trope. Little time is given to the perspective of the Chinese gamers that are so central to the plot. It was disappointing to see the story take such a problematic turn. The art is stellar, and the graphic novel does present some interesting food for thought on feminism, economy, gaming and exploitation… but the problematic resolution was ultimately off-putting.

Recommendation: Borrow it someday or maybe skip it.

Review crossposted from Rich in Color: richincolor[.]com

This graphic novel adapts Cory Doctorow's short story "Anda's Game." As graphic novels do take a bit longer to tell, just purely based on the number of pages, some portions of this story have been lost, such as Anda's growing obesity and eventual diabetes as she spends too much time in her game.

However, I think that actually helps the story. We're not presented with too many problems. It's just one simple issue: labor exploitation, and what individuals can do to help.

I enjoyed the art for this adaptation. The softer, more undefined lines of the real world contrast well with the sharpness of the digital, so you can always tell in which you're located. The simplistic avatars of the gold farmers make sense, given the amount of time they must spend on leveling characters; it's an unnecessary delay. And the more detailed avatars of the actual players are each a delight on their own, with such visible personalities.

I'll be keeping an eye out for this book. I'm not sure where I can get it, but I'd like a copy of my own.

This was such a rare find and I'm glad to have gotten this book recommended to me by so many people! I love that the main character is a girl who isn't pencil-skinny and blonde, and it didn't perpetuate "girl gamer" stereotypes. I loved the themes, the art, and the characters. My only wish is that this was an ongoing series versus a standalone graphic novel, but it was completely worth it and I'll definitely pick it up again to stare at the beautiful artwork :)

I loved this graphic novel. It was so wonderful and fantastic and all the other positive words that I can use.

I loved the artwork and all the colors that were used. It really made each page fun and exciting.

I loved the concept of the novel as well. It really showed that not everyone is as fortunate as some and right and wrong are sometimes are so black and white.

I loved, loved how wonderfully this graphic novel showed female gamers in such a positive and realistic way.

Anda was such an awesome protagonist. She was super relatable and well written.

The only thing that I wish was different was the length. It was pretty short and it could definitely have been longer.

Overall, I recommend this graphic novel to everyone. If you regularly read graphic novels or you’re just starting out, pick up In Real Life. It’s so much fun and has beautiful artwork. I’ll be rereading this for sure.

Nice comics about on line games, friendship and the power of the people when they get together. I like Doctorow, even if sometimes I have the impression that he lives in a different world than mine.

Fumetto carino sugli on line games, l'amicizia e il potere della massa. Doctorow mi piace quasi sempre, anche se a volte ho l'impressione che abiti in un mondo diverso dal mio.

Awesome book but I think this book is only good for elementary student because of its length and not that much vocabulary in it and I would blow of $14 for a book to read in less than an hour and throw away.

I jumped on this graphic novel, because I truly love anything by First Second. Seriously, they're so good.
This is about a girl who decides to start playing online games as a way to build her self-esteem. What she learns is that she has what it takes to make a real difference in the world, by being kind and standing up for those less fortunate than her.

Beautiful. Charming. Clever.

Because this book is so popular and cool looking I had certain expectations for it because of the awesome artwork and the premise of girl-gamer power. However, I soon realized that starting off a graphic novel with more than a one page introduction is never a good sign. Comics should tell the story... that's kinda the point. While I appreciated the idea of a young teenage girl being introduced to the wonders and certain downsides of internet gaming, I felt that the story wasn't really on point.

I liked the protagonist. She seemed like a real girl. But, the addition of getting herself in trouble while online gaming and getting her "new friend" in trouble was a real low point. I wasn't expecting the story to take us down some sort of commercialism is bad and teenagers don't really understand how the world works path.... Then, "Oh, look everything is fixed. No worries." I felt that the ending didn't follow the point the author was trying to make. Why tell us the world is corrupt and then leave us with a happy ending out of a helpful solution that probably wouldn't work in real-life?

Girls, gaming, activism, self image, bullying, relationships with family and friends--all of these things are covered and more in this inspiring book by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang. This book is both topical and fun, entertaining and educational, and though the book is aimed toward teens, I think adults would get just as much from the story. In fact, I would encourage parents of teens to read it. I know when I was a teen I would have empathized with Anda a great deal. Highly recommended!

(I received this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review)

2.5 stars

Contains mild spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

In Real Life was my favourite graphic novel so far in terms of artwork. The colour scheme was gorgeous. The scenes flowed easily and weren't too crammed or spaced out. Visually, it was really pleasing graphic novel.

The plot was another story. Maybe my limited knowledge of video games - and by that I mean, I have never touched one in my life apart from wii tennis when I was ten - lessened my enjoyment of this, but I wouldn't think that all people picking this up would be gamers and nor should they have to be.

Theoretically, I think I understand the concept of gold-farming which is what this story focuses on. Gamers sell online stuff for real money. The problem is I don't understand why or really how. Why would anyone pay over one-hundred dollars for a virtual house? They cannot live in it. They cannot do anything with it other than sit their avatar in there right? Yet - from what I understood - you could earn virtual "gold" that was equivalent to money in the game and buy a house through this "gold". Why the need to buy one with real money in the real world?

Now - sounding even more naïve I feel - I want to question these actual "gold farmers". Are the literally just people that sit all day at a computer and virtually go around farming for things that they can sell to other gamers? Do these people get paid to do this like a normal job - by hourly wages etc.? Or do they get paid the amount of money the item they sold cost? I need so much more information about these people. I know nothing about this concept - as you can tell - and have had none of my questions answered by this book.

I didn't understand why our protagonist had to look up Raymond's rights to healthcare and doctor stuff either. Was he not capable of Googling them himself? I know Anda wanted to help him but surely he could have helped himself too?

Also, the whole idea that this online group thing - guilde? - was set up as a feministic group baffles me. I understand the girl gamers wanted recognition and equal opportunity as the male gamers - understandably - but how did they think creating an invite-only girls group was going to help that? Wasn't the idea to be equal to the male players? How is creating a special girls-only group going to show them that? Maybe I was missing the point... which is how I felt throughout the book.

Despite all this negative stuff, I did enjoy the book. The art, like I mentioned before, was brilliant. The characterization was also fantastic and I really enjoyed how realistic the story was - the characters, the parent's involvement with their children's life etc.

Overall, I just felt like I was missing some key background ideas. My lack of gaming experience certainly didn't help and I won't be able to recommend this to other non-gamers like myself.

While a good story about the implications of a global interaction of economies and idea exchange I think I preferred the original story for pure presentation of idea. That said about the writing, the artist on this is amazing and I loved every page of her wonderful clean style and will be seeking her out in the future as a to read for sure!

In Real Life by Cory Doctorow is a great new graphic novel for gamers, especially female gamers. I loved the artwork as the writing. My daughter who is 13, enjoyed it as well. Can't wait to read more from this author and artist!

It's a simple story with uncomplicated but fresh and effective drawings that addresses complex issues--girls in "men's worlds"; differences between countries, their economics, the lives of their people--and at the same time their samenesses; the difficulty in perceiving the difference between right and wrong sometimes; being new in an unfamiliar place, and more. Very nice book.

I thought the comic would be about a chic who would be an extrovert in the virtual world but a introvert in real life with many teenager cliche problemas but it really was nothing like that. I really loved it.

Like a lot of Doctorow's writing, IRL is a great think piece, especially for any young, budding activist. It's also a great comic filled with female empowerment. Sure the ending reads as a little saccharine, but I think it would go over well with the YA set. Buy this for your daughters and neices, even if they don't love comics.

Like a lot of Doctorow's writing, IRL is a great think piece, especially for any young, budding activist. It's also a great comic filled with female empowerment. Sure the ending reads as a little saccharine, but I think it would go over well with the YA set. Buy this for your daughters and neices, even if they don't love comics.

In Real Life is the riveting story of a girl's first foray into MMOs. She encounters a gold farmer that introduces her to the harsher side of reality. Her empowering journey through the digital world had me public crying. IRL speaks to the value of community, the necessity of self-evaluation, and the overwhelming power of collective protest. It's a potent read, folks.

This is an extremely engaging and real story. It's a real eye opening story that shows you two different sides of a story, the consumerist safety of being a white american and the tooth and nail fight to be a poor Chinese. While also showing how MMO's can bridge those two different places and maybe making the world better.

Its amazing so amazing!!!!??????????????❤☺??????? :-) ????
I wish there was a sequal so cool
I love this book so much!