Ready Player One

Ready Player One
Ernest Cline
Crown, 2011 384 Pages
Grades 7-Up
Science Fiction

2044 America is a dismal place. The world is over populated, unemployed, and hungry. Wade Watts is a seventeen year old boy who lives in the equivalent of the Projects of the future: in a vertically stacked row of trailers with an alcoholic aunt and various renters. Wade finds his only solace, as with the majority of the world's citizens, in the OASIS, a virtual world created by late coding genius James Halliday. Before he died Halliday created the ultimate game challenge. A series of clues and challenges will lead the seeker to an Easter Egg hidden within his world. The finder of the egg will inherit his whole kingdom. Wade is determined to find the egg, although it’s been years and no one has even crossed the first gate. An evil corporation is also gunning to discover the egg. If they gain control of the fortune they will turn the OASIS into a for-profit commercial enterprise, compromising its integrity and no longer allowing free access to all. Along with Wade, his best friend is also independently searching for the egg, as is his crush, both of whom he has never met in person. As a game playing child of the 80's, Halliday's writings, clues and challenges all have 1980's references. Luckily, Wade has studied up on popular culture of the time period. He miraculously finds the first key, crosses the first gate, and is on his way through the scavenger hunt to the Easter Egg. The evil corporation is close on his heels and they don't play fair. Will Wade and his buddies manage to save the OASIS?

I generally do not read books after watching the movie first. I saw this movie about a year ago and didn't love it. I had no intention of reading this book, not being a video game lover, but so many teens in my library rave about it and so I decided to give it a try. I planned on reading just a little bit to get the flavor of the book and then stopping. Unfortunately, I got hooked and found myself reading all 384 pages. Luckily, this book reads quickly, goes down like candy, and the action never stops. Perfect for gaming lovers, this is a slam-dunk to give to kids who would rather play video games than read. Today's readers would probably prefer a hunt not dependent on 1980's culture, but I'm sure that's the world familiar to the author. It’s also my world, so I enjoyed the references, but it would be nice for today's kids to relate to the clues a bit more. The plot moves along at a breakneck speed with little character development, much like reading an actual video game. There are deaths, yet nothing worse than a superhero movie. Ready Player One is aimed at teenagers, but would also be appropriate for older elementary. Wade does have romantic moments with his crush, but they remain innocent and are not the focus of the book. Although certainly written with entertainment in mind, Cline also includes some serious warnings about our future and demonstrates what will happen if we, as a society, aren't careful, as well as messages about corporate America, the mental take-over of video games and the popular media, and protection of freedoms. A perfect choice for reluctant readers, give this to kids who think they don't like to read.