For the Win

Little Kid Reaction: I give this book a 4.5 (out of 5 stars) because I loved it. Not only was the book full of both online and real life action, but the author really knows how to grab (and keep) teenage audiences. I would recommend this book for any teenager, especially those who play video games. In addition to this book, I would recommend the Hunger Games series, Unwind by Neil Shusterman and Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi.

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For the Win takes place in an era where online gaming corporations control the economy and leave millions of workers impoverished, particularly in developing countries. Finally, workers who are fed up with the status quo begin organizing and calling for the right to unionize. For the Win describes how the conflict between workers and corporations escalates and the effect it has on people around the world. The story follows main characters from India, China, Singapore, and the United States. I would recommend this book for upper middle and high school students. Although it has some complicated economics and becomes a bit preachy at times, it remains an exciting page-turner that is especially relevant for today's increasingly online world. ( )

All around the world, people are playing games, battling for online gold, jewels, points, levels and status. And in poor nations, there are players who play for these treasures, but then their employers trade the virtual gold for real money -- from those who want to pay to skip to higher-level play immediately. This is the story of brilliant Mala in India, Matthew in Shenzen, Leonard (aka Wei-Dong) from California, and Big Sister Nor in rural China, who are all trying to break out of the sweatshops where low pay, fear and the threat of violence hangs over them if they do not earn enough every day. Big Sister Nor wants every "gold farmer" to join a union, to protect the rights of those who work from abusive employers and allow them to earn a decent wage and work decent hours, but those who make the money off this scheme will use any means necessary to keep things as they are -- including murder. The plan is to crash the virtual economies of every game in the world, all at once... if they can pull it off. Great for gamers and anyone who needs a challenging read with a big-picture view, 8th grade and up. ( )

There was a good story in there somewhere. It just got bogged down by the rambling, repetitive explanations of economics and the inner workings of speculative markets. I thought most of the characters were developed well with the exception of Big Sister Nor, which is kind of funny since she's the character that holds all the story lines together.

I'm not sure how this is considered a book for 12-17 year olds. If I'd read/listened to this book at that age, I would have quit pretty qui...moreThere was a good story in there somewhere. It just got bogged down by the rambling, repetitive explanations of economics and the inner workings of speculative markets. I thought most of the characters were developed well with the exception of Big Sister Nor, which is kind of funny since she's the character that holds all the story lines together.

I'm not sure how this is considered a book for 12-17 year olds. If I'd read/listened to this book at that age, I would have quit pretty quickly. I get that the majority of characters are young teens, but the intricacies of the plot and the before mentioned economic and investment lessons would have lost my attention.

Which isn't to say that I won't try more Doctorow. I've heard good things about his other books, but this one just didn't gel well. Too many side notes that seemed to go on forever, tearing me out of the story as a whole. It's hard to get into a story that has five or six plot lines with entirely different sets of characters as it is. Throw in long, rambling, repetitive tangents and things are going to fall apart in places. ( )

I loved the first half of this book, but for me, the second half bogged down.Imagine a world a few years forward from ours. On-line gaming is a really, really big deal. The amount of money moving around within the games is huge. It's all play money, of course. Except there are significant numbers of people willing to trade real money for it."Gold farms" are a booming business-- groups spend long hours playing to earn game cash and other rewards, which then get sold to players looking for a boost. At first glance, it seems like a dream come true-- get paid to play video games. However, sweatshop conditions for these farmers take the pleasure away, and the demanding bosses with out of game enforcers take away the possibility of starting your own business.The book follows several people:Matthew is a young man in China, who is attempting to set up his own crew farming gold. His old bosses are not pleased.Wei-Dong is an American high school student. He's renamed himself to fit in better with his Chinese buddies he plays with all night. He finds himself living on his own when he runs away from his family, who are about to ship him to a school that will help him stay on track, away from any distractions.Mala lives in India, and commands her own army of players. When they first are offered money to play, it seems too good to be true. They find themselves deeper and deeper in a situation far less pleasant than expected.More characters are introduced throughout the book, and I was overwhelmed by them all near the end. There were so many, each with a role to play.At the beginning of the book, I loved the look at the interplay between the real and gaming worlds. The look at the meaning of money was fascinating and thought provoking. Bringing in politics and unions also kept causing me to stop and think about it. When the game-makers views of the issues were added, I loved seeing that side. Eventually, it got to be a little too much.Overall, that's my opinion of the book-- too much of too many good things. ( )