Connecting Games and Books
February 14th, 2008 by Christopher Harris
I am taking Young Adult Resources and Services this semester and had to do a book talk as one of the class activities. No sense in creating something and not sharing it, however, so here is what I came up with as great books to connect with gaming on a middle school level.
Heir Apparent – Vivian Vande Velde
Giannine wanted to play a quick virtual reality game, but instead finds herself trapped in a repeating world that is slowly killing her. If she can’t figure out how to win the game, she may lose her life!
Girl Got Game – Shizuru Seino
Oh, the humiliation! Kyo’s father is forcing her to go to school dressed like a boy just so she has a chance to live out his dreams of being a basketball star. But what about the locker room?!?
The View from Saturday – E. L. Konigsburg
When the four students in this book find balance, they discover that together they are more powerful than they were. Along the way to winning the quiz show, they also help each other succeed in life.
Halo: The Fall of Reach – Eric Nylund
You’ve played the game, now go back in time to discover why Master Chief is such a deadly soldier. This story tells about the creation of the Spartans and their first meeting with the Covenant forces.
The Prince of Tennis – Takeshi Konomi
7th grader Ryoma may be young, but he is ready to take on (and beat!) 8th graders on his way to becoming the best tennis player. Winning now, though, means high school students to face later!
Game Maker’s Apprentice – Jacob Habgood
Learn to use the free Game Maker software [yoyogames.com] to create your own video games. This book provides directions and examples to help you create many different styles of games to play.
Here is a PDF of the handout I created (I love iWork and Pages on the Mac by the way!). It is being released as a Creative Commons, Non-Commercial/Share-and-Share-Alike document.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
[...] few days ago, I shared a handout from a booktalk I did about books connected to gaming. I got some interesting feedback from the class. The one note that really sparked my interest shows [...]
February 19th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Chris,
Thanks so much for all that you share. I have gotten so many good ideas from your blog! Now I am going to have to check to see if I have these books about gaming in my middle school library! The boys especially will be so pleased!
April 29th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Chris,
Great post – these are some good suggestions. I would also suggest the .hack// books – there are several manga (G.U. , Legend Of Twilight) series, as well as regular text novels (Another Birth). The books feature an MMORPG called “The World,” a fully immersive 3d environment with quests and things. Different characters have various adventures, etc. As far as directly connecting gamers with books, there are (i think) around seven .hack video game titles out for the PS2. The series is rated 13+, which catches only older 8th graders, but content-wise, I think it would appeal to middle-school readers a lot.