Children's Fiction, Lifestyles

Head Games

Name: Head Games
Author: Mariah Fredericks
ISBN: 9781416913351

by Mariah Fredericks

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Overview

REALITY? I'd give it a C-.

That's what fifteen year old Judith Ellis thinks, anyway. Reality is her former best friend not talking to her this year. Reality is her dad living three thousand miles away. Reality is what happened outside 158 West Seventy-first Street, New York City.

To Judith, fantasy rules. Particularly in the Game, which she plays online with a bunch of strangers she knows only as the Witch, the Drunken Warrior, and Irgan the Head Case. In the gaming world it's strictly alternative identities. No one knows who you are, no one gets too close.

But one player in the Game is coming after her — and he's a lot closer than Judith guesses.

Close enough to see her, close enough to talk with her,

Close enough to like her.

Two teenagers connect online in a role-playing game which leads them into their own face-to-face, half-acknowledged courtship.

About the Author, Mariah Fredericks

Mariah Fredericks is the author of the bestselling novel The True Meaning of Cleavage, which Meg Cabot called "Laugh-out-loud funny and way twisted!" She is also the author of Head Games, Crunch Time, and two previous books in the In the Cards series, Love and Fame.

Mariah accepts that cats are her superior in every way and would never dream of insulting one by trying to own it. However, she has been reading tarot cards since she was a teenager, and while she knows that it is lame to believe in fortune-telling, her readings keep coming true, so she keeps doing them. She has even written a tarot guide called The Smart Girl's Guide to Tarot.

She lives with her husband, son, and basset hound in Jackson Heights, New York. Visit her online at www.mariahfredericks.com or www.myspace.com/mariahfredericks.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

This ambitious second novel from the author of The True Meaning of Cleavage covers roughly the same terrain-alienation among affluent New York City teens-with mixed success. The story starts strong, capturing the obsessive pull that an online computer game has on 14-year-old Judith Ellis, who freaks when one of her online opponents attacks the character she's playing. Too coincidentally the "psycho killer" from the game turns out to be her "juvenile delinquent" neighbor, Jonathan. Identities revealed, the two drop the online game to create their own, to the horror of Judith's overprotective, divorced mother. This budding friendship helps to compensate for Judith's isolation at school, where she's been dumped by former best friend, Leia. Judith dreads walking past Leia's apartment, though the author does not reveal until late in the story that the heroine is not running from her ex-friend but rather from the memory of having been attacked in the lobby of Leia's building (an attack she has kept secret from all but Jonathan). In an interesting twist, Jonathan helps Judith confront her fear; the development of their relationship is the novel's greatest strength. However, Judith's possibly confused sexuality is one of several threads left undeveloped, and the subplot in which she tutors a "fat, rich... airhead" has a predictable outcome. Smooth writing and authentic dialogue add an unnaturally quiet tone to a book that brims with conflicts but never quite manages to bring them into sharp relief. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

KLIATT

Fifteen-year-old Judith Ellis, a child of divorce, attends an academically tough prep school and excels at The Game, a fantasy activity. By day, Connolly High School is Judith's reality, while at night she morphs into Terryn, a successful thief. Reality includes an awkward, long-distance relationship with her father in Seattle, the mysterious loss of her best friend, and a weird boy in her apartment building. Judith becomes curious about the boy and eventually befriends him, with some surprising results. They form an uneasy alliance and create an offline fantasy game. As reality starts to fuse with fantasy, Judith becomes aware of herself in new ways. This story will connect with teens who don't fit in, or have been banished from a group for one reason or another. It describes the role of fantasy gaming in the lives of teens. Recommended for older middle and high school students, especially for misfits searching to find their place in the social strata and hierarchy of school. KLIATT Codes: S—Recommended for senior high school students. 2004, Simon & Schuster, Pulse, 260p., Ages 15 to 18.
—Holley Wiseman

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-The author of The True Meaning of Cleavage (Atheneum, 2003) again perceptively explores the psyche of teenagers. Judith, 15, believes it's safest to "be invisible." The previous year she was attacked as she walked alone at night and still feels powerless to tell anyone about the incident. Her former best friend refuses to acknowledge her existence and her divorced father lives 3000 miles away. The only place where she feels free to be anyone she wants to be is in the online role-playing game she's addicted to, in which her character is always male. After Irgan, her Internet enemy, forfeits the right to kill her off, Judith drops out of the Game and becomes determined to learn his identity. She's surprised and intrigued to discover that he's a teenager with a reputation as a druggie and screw-up who lives in her apartment building. Despite her mother's misgivings, Judith and Jonathan become close as they act out a live role-playing game where there are no rules. Jonathan helps her deal with the attack and shows her that it's OK to be a girl. Judith also finds real friendship with Katie, an insecure girl she tutors in math. This novel realistically portrays young adults trying to find themselves, fit in, and resist the labels put on them. Judith is a strong character who will appeal to readers who like books by Sarah Dessen, Ann Brashares, Megan McCafferty, and Jaclyn Moriarty. Teens will also like the gaming and role-playing aspects.-Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Fredericks's story opens with Judith Ellis defending herself from a psycho killer: an opponent in The Game. She soon learns that her arch-nemesis is her reputedly bad-boy neighbor, Jonathan. The two begin a new game, and Judith feels secure acting as Gareth until she realizes that in her fantasy world she can't be herself. As Judith, she can care about Jonathan and establish her independence from her mother, begin to recover from a sexual attack, and accept the loss of her best friend when they find different interests. Not only is the narration set up in an interesting way, with the first half called "Gareth" and the second "Judith," but Judith's gender issues are interesting as well. Since her attack, she prefers to take on male roles while gaming, and while definitely attracted to Jonathan, Judith wonders if she ever had feelings for Leia, her former best friend. Fredericks has a gift for replicating teen vernacular; the end of her story leaves readers with the same wistful feeling as "Game Over." (Fiction. YA)