★★★★★ 5
Virtual reality school!
Format: Hardcover
This book explores the idea of an online school that looks and feels like a regular school but is attended from your own home while wearing a VR headset. The reader experiences it through the eyes of five very different kids:
Bradley Horvath is full of personality but has always been picked on or ignored because he is overweight. Until he changes the appearance of his avatar and goes by Daebak nobody knows that he loves K-pop, dancing, and is fun to be around. I loved getting to know Bradley and liked him from the first page.
Edelsabeth/Edelle Dahan-Miller has the opposite situation as Bradley. She is beautiful and popular, so nobody sees her for who she is inside. Her mom requires her avatar to be plain so she will learn to focus on other people and not just on looking cute. She is embarrassed and doesn’t want anyone to know it’s her so she changes her name to Vanya.
Hunter Athanasopoulos plays lacrosse and loves to be the center of attention but doesn’t want kids to find out he now has bald spots from alopecia. He doesn’t want to be judged by his hair loss even though he judges everyone else based on their appearance and is only kind to people who are beautiful and popular.
Jasper is known for the yellow tracksuit he wears. He is kind, a peacemaker, and brings people together. He likes soccer and video games but attends virtual school for health reasons.
Keiko is the least developed character, but I would like to know more about her. She is moody, doesn’t talk much or show emotion, and is good at art.
I enjoyed reading this book. It pulls the reader in and keeps you there with fun descriptions. The kids trade off telling the story with each chapter in a chatty conversational way, so it never gets tedious or boring. It has a feel-good happy ending and teaches kids lessons along the way like what being a true friend means and seeing the people around you for who they are. 5 big stars! Thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing for an ARC to use for my review.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2023


