  | Play the game Author: Allen, Charlene Y. | |
| Price: $23.98 | ||
Summary:
A teen boy tries to keep his best friend's legacy alive through a video game while getting swept up in a murder investigation that points to his other best friend as the prime suspect.
Reviews:
School Library Journal (12/15/23)
Booklist (11/01/22)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/04/23)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 11/01/2022 It’s been a year since a Black teen named Ed was killed by Singer, a white man who got off scot-free. But now it’s Singer’s turn to be killed, and the police think they know who did it: Jack, a best friend to Ed, as well as to protagonist and narrator VZ. The police say Jack had a motive (revenge) and an opportunity: both murders take place in the parking lot behind the Caribbean restaurant where Jack works with VZ, Diamond (the beautiful girl on whom VZ has a killer crush), and Fisk (Diamond's boyfriend). Although the police haven’t found the murder weapon, they name Jack as a person of interest, and he disappears, leaving VZ to discover the truth. A subplot involving a computer game that Ed had developed is a nice touch that adds a dash of suspense. There are plenty of questions that drive this whodunit but may require a willing suspension of disbelief to answer. Most readers will ignore that, however, for the sake of this first novel's compelling story. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
Booklist - 11/01/2022 It’s been a year since a Black teen named Ed was killed by Singer, a white man who got off scot-free. But now it’s Singer’s turn to be killed, and the police think they know who did it: Jack, a best friend to Ed, as well as to protagonist and narrator VZ. The police say Jack had a motive (revenge) and an opportunity: both murders take place in the parking lot behind the Caribbean restaurant where Jack works with VZ, Diamond (the beautiful girl on whom VZ has a killer crush), and Fisk (Diamond's boyfriend). Although the police haven’t found the murder weapon, they name Jack as a person of interest, and he disappears, leaving VZ to discover the truth. A subplot involving a computer game that Ed had developed is a nice touch that adds a dash of suspense. There are plenty of questions that drive this whodunit but may require a willing suspension of disbelief to answer. Most readers will ignore that, however, for the sake of this first novel's compelling story. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 12/15/2023 Gr 9 Up—Allen's debut weaves an intricate story that begins with a young Black student, Ed Hennessey, being shot and killed by a white man in a parking lot in Brooklyn. Four months later, that same white man is killed in the same location, and Jack, a classmate and friend of Ed's, is arrested. VZ, another of Ed's friends, decides to honor his friend's legacy by submitting a video game Ed built for a local competition. As VZ and his friends play the game, they find parallels to the current murder investigation—parallels that might help them exonerate the friend who was arrested. The riveting plot will captivate readers, and Allen perfectly captures the dialogue of modern teens, who are sure to see their own conversations reflected in this narrative. Readers will be hooked by the video game story-within-a-story that leads to solving the mystery. VERDICT Told through beautiful dialogue, humor, and video gaming, this exquisitely written debut offers teens nuanced views on complex societal issues.—Tracey S. Hodges - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
