Kianola

Roth spins a fantastical tale of young angst, love and maturation, all set withing the realm of on-line gaming. It’s a superbly cleaver avenue for teaching life lessons during those angsty tween years, when wanting to be accepted can be so difficult. As the story progresses, friends, Harley, Finn and Nole attempt to break out of their Middle School cocoons and spread their high school wings. Nole struggles most acutely with “being on the sidelines while others take center stage”. Within the video game Enix he can reinvent himself, while learning valuable life lessons such as: accountability, supporting others, goal setting, inclusivity, even love and regret. Nole aches to find that “one who asks, ‘How’s it going?’ and show more cares about the answer.” In spite of its length (400 pages), I absolutely loved this book. It is a heartfelt ode to middle schoolers everywhere, using language that is perfect for that age group (and for parents who wish to better understand their fledgling teens). Brilliant concept well executed 5 stars! show less

As a middle school teacher I often see kids like Nole. They may not always hide away in video games, but they hide away in their art or something else. I often see them with someone who acts like a friend, but at the same time tends to bully them, just on a milder level.

In this book our main character has gotten the most coveted new game, Enix. Within this game he can be the opposite of who he isn’t in his real world. When he meets a girl named Dapple he begins to build a friendship and a crush. Then Dapple introduces him to her friend, Kianola (Kia). Nole’s crush moves from Dapple to Kia. Through playing this game Nole gets a whole new perspective on life. Teased and bullied for being overweight, he has such low self esteem. In the show more imaginary world he can be the opposite of what he believes he is in the real world. However, this soon carries over into his real life. Nole begins to make changes in himself, to become the person he wants to be and the person he is determined to become.

The gaming part of this book was awesome. I say this having grown up with the original Sega and graduation to Play Stations (as an adult). I was never good at playing games. Just ask my kids or my nieces and nephews. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like them. The world building in this story is done so expertly that when Nole and his friends entered the game I felt like I was there. I could envision the different worlds in the games. I understood what was happening in the game. Were the game real I still couldn’t play it and win. My eye-hand coordination is not good, the same with my reflexes. I believe this is a book my middle school students are going to love. Especially since they so patiently try to explain to me the games they are playing. I would have to classify this as fantasy world meets the real world. If I could give this more than five stars I would because this has to be one of the best books I have read in the last few month. show less

Loved this