RA
for YAs: Books for Gamers
presented by Beth Gallaway bethg@mmrls.org
Metrowest MA Regional Library System
YSS/MLA, November 17, 2005
Reader’s Advisory for Teens
DON’T ASK: What do you like to
read? What are the last 3 books you read and enjoyed?
DO ASK: What movies do you
like? What TV shows do you watch? What games do you play?
TIP: If you do not know
anything about the titles mentioned, ask, “Tell me more…”
If YA likes: Everquest,
Runescape, World of Warcraft, Ultima (MMORPGs)
Recommend: Epic fantasy,
historical war
Price, Susan. The Sterkarm Handshake. Eos, 2003.
Weis, Margaret & Tracy Hickham. DragonLance. Wizards of the Coast
Salvatore, R.A. Forgotten Realms. Wizards of the Coast
Jordan, Sherryl. The Hunting of the Last Dragon. Eos, 2003.
Books by T.A. Barron, Robert Jordan, C.S. Lewis, Garth Nix, Christopher
Paolini, Philip Pullman,
If YA likes: Civilization,
Caesar (historical simulations)
Recommend: ancient history,
biographies,
Van Loon, Hendrick Willem. Cosimo. The Story of Mankind. 2005
Books by Gary Blackwood, Peter Dickinson, Adele Geras, Clarence
McLaren, Donna Jo Napoli, Julius Lester, Rosemary Sutcliff.
If YA likes: Madden Football,
NBA Street, Need for Speed, Tiger Woods, Golf, WWF (sports games)
Recommend: sports and
adventure titles
Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air. (Anchor, 1998)
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights. De Capo Press, 2000.
Best American Sports Writing. Houghton Mifflin. annual.
Books by Chris Crutcher, Thomas Dygard, Will Hobbs, Rich Wallace
If YA likes: Myst, Tetris,
Where in the World is Carmen San Diego (puzzle games)
Recommend: mystery, thrillers
and puzzle books
Baillett, Blue. Chasing Vermeer. Scholastic, 2005.
Levitt, Steven & Stephen Dubner. Freakonomics. Morrow/Harper, 2005.
Mezrich, Ben. Bringing Down the House. Free Press, 2003.
Raskin, Ellen. The Westing Game. Puffin, 1997.
Books by E.L. Konigsberg, William E. Coles, Vivian Vande Velde, Dan
Brown, Michael Crichton
If YA likes: America’s Army,
Doom, Quake, Halo (first person shooters)
Recommend: military fiction,
horror, and apocalyptic fiction
McCaffrey, Anne. Black Horses for the King. Del Rey, 1998.
Hughes, Dean. Soldier Boys. Simon Pulse, 2003.
Efaw, Amy. Battle Dress. Harper, 2003
Books by John Marsden, Harry Mazer, James Collier, Bernard Cornwall,
Tom Clancy, Robert Westall
If YA likes: The Sims, the Urbz
Recommend: titles featuring
sociology, dysfunction, and relationships
Weaver, Will. Claws. Harper, 2004.
Lubar, David. Flip. Starscape, 2004.
Books by Mel Glenn, M.E. Kerr, Cecily von Zeigesar
10 Novels with Gaming Plots
Bloor, Edward. Crusader. Scholastic, 2001.
15-year old Roberta struggles to separate truth from virtual reality
when she works in her uncle’s failing arcade at the mall in this blend
of murder mystery and mall rat culture.
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. Starscape, 2002 (reprint).
Set in a future where children are trained for military battle using
video games, Ender rises above his peers to become a commander of an
virtual army.
Horowitz, Anthony. Eagle Strike. Philomel Books, 2004.
After a chance encounter with assassin Yassen Gregorovich, teenage spy
Alex Rider investigates pop star Damian Cray, whose new video game
venture hides sinister motives involving Air Force One, nuclear
missiles, and the drug trade.
Lubar, David. Wizards of the Game. Philomel Books, 2003.
Eighth grader Mercer, whose passion is the fantasy role-playing game
Wizards of the Warrior World, hopes to use a fundraiser to bring a
gaming convention to his middle school, but instead he attracts four
genuine wizards who are trapped on Earth and want his help in returning
to their own world.
Skurzynski, Gloria. The Virtual War. Simon& Schuster, 1997.
In a future world where global contamination has necessitated limited
human contact, three young people with unique genetically engineered
abilities are teamed up to wage a war in virtual reality.
Tangherlini, Arne. Leo@fergusrules.com. Leapfrog Press, 1999.
Leonora, a teenager of mixed ancestry, begins to spend most of her time
in a virtual reality program but is lured into computer-generated
danger when a boy she likes disappears.
Vande Velde, Vivian. Heir Apparent. Magic Carpet Books, 2004.
A young woman gets trapped in a flawed virtual reality game that will
kill her if she doesn’t beat it soon.
Vande Velde, Vivian. User Unfriendly. Magic Carpet Books, 2001.
Arvin Rizalli, his mother, and six of his friends pirate a
computer-generated, interactive video game that plugs right into the
players' brains.
Werlin, Nancy. Locked Inside. Delacorte Press, 2000.
When Marnie is kidnapped by a crazed fan of her late mother's, an
Internet gaming friend comes to the rescue in this mystery/thriller.
Wieler, Diana. Ran Van series. Ran Van the Defender, Ran Van Magic
Nation, Ran Van: Worthy Opponent. Groundwood Books, 1993-1997. Rhan Van
uses his success at video games under the name "RanVan" to see himself
as a modern knight and to cope with life with his grandmother and as an
outsider at his Vancouver high school, with his anger, and with girls.
Graphic Novels featuring Video
Games/With Game Tie-ins
Knaak Richard & Jae-Hwan Kim Dragon Hunt. Warcraft: The
Sunwell Chronicles #1. Tokypop, 2005. Graphic novel fantasy set in the
war- torn world of Azeroth focusing on a quest to prevent the Sunwell's
destructive power from being realized.
Simons, Rikki. Reality Check! Tokyopop, 2003.
When tenth-grader Collin Meeks is at school, his cat, Catreece, puts on
her owner's virtual reality helmet, assumes the identity of a cute
teenager, and surfs the Virtual Internet System while Collin is at
school.
Toriyama, Akira. DragonBall/DragonBall Z. Viz, 2000-
Goku, a monkey tailed mountain boy meets a girl who is seeking the 7
mystical "Dragonballs" which when all gathered together, will grant the
posseser any wish.
Books with Game Tie-Ins
DragonLance series. Wizards of the Coast
The original gaming novels! Rumored to be based on an actual D&D
campaign.
Miller, Rand et al. The Myst Reader: The Book of Atrus; The Book of
Ti'ana; The Book of D'ni
Popular puzzle game has three spin-off novels set in the fictional
world of Myst. Novels provide backstory to the game.
Perry, S.D. Resident Evil series. Pocket Books.
Based on the murder mystery video games series.
Nonfiction
Compton, Shanna. Gamers: Writers, Artists and Programmers on the
Pleasures of Pixels. Soft Skull Press, 2004.
Collection of essays about gaming, ranging from memoir to criticism.
DeMaria, Russel & Johnny L. Wilson. High Score! The Illustrated
History of Electronic Games. McGraw, 2003.
Glossy full-color chronology of the history of video games.
Weiss, D. B. Lucky Wander Boy. Penguin, 2003.
Obsessed with creating an encyclopedic reference of every video game
ever played, Adam Pennyman continues to be frustrated by his attempts
to uncover information about "Lucky Wander Boy," a game that he had
loved as a child.
Official Prima Strategy Guides. Prima. http://www.primagames.com/
Official guides to many types of games.
Role Playing Strategy Guides/ Card Game Strategy Guides
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook. Wizards of the
Coast, 2003.
Moursund, Beth. Magic: The Gathering: Official Strategy Guide.
Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1997
Gaming Magazines
Computer Gaming World
Dragon
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Game Informer
Game Pro
Nintendo Power
Official X-Box
PC Gamer
Play
Playstation & PS2
Tips & Tricks
Especially of Interest to Librarians
Beck, John C. & Mitchell Wade. Got Game? How the Gamer Generation
is Reshaping Business Forever. Harvard Business School Press, 2004.
Beck & Wade’s research discovered that video game play develops
characteristics that become business strengths that gamers have and
boomers lack.
Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and
Literacy. Palgrave MacMillian, 2004.
Gee describes 32 principles of learning that he found in playing and
observing video games.
Jenkins, Henry III and Justine Cassell. From Barbie to Mortal Kombat:
Gender and Computer Games. MIT Press, 2000.
Collection of essays about the way boys and girls use computers and
video games, with suggestions on how to ensure girls have equal access
and play time.
Katz, John. Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho.
Broadway, 2001.
True story of two computer geeks who accept a challenge to make a
better more socialized life for themselves.