Warcross by Marie Lu

Every locked door has a key.

Warcross is Ready Player One meets The Hunger Games. The whole world is engaged in a virtual reality simulation game which they join through NeuroLink glasses, but only a few players make it to the Warcross Championships, held every spring and pitting the top two teams against each other. Amateur players can be nominated to play in the Championships as wild cards- something Emika Chen longs to do but cannot due to her criminal record. Emika is an average person, obsessed with the game just like everyone; she is poor, lives in New York City, and works as a bounty hunter for the police to try to make ends meet. She’s also a talented hacker- not so average- and she uses this talent to anonymously hack into the game, stealing prizes that she can later turn into real cash. But this time, Emika attempts to hack into the official tournament game and finds not only that her hack works, but that she can be seen! The game is immediately shut down and Emika’s phone rings; it’s Mr. Hideo Tanaka, the creator and CEO of Warcross, and he wants to hire Emika as his personal hacker. From here, Emika is whisked into a world of mystery, crime, war, deception and even romance as she tries to save the world from an evil hacker- or so she thinks. This book will appeal to readers who like video games, action, adventure, and intrigue. It is the first in a duology.

Complexity++ While written in a linear fashion with one narrator, the complexity of the game and intricacies of the relationships between the players above ground and below ground require the reader’s attention.

Literary merit+ The book is well written as a fast-paced action-adventure novel.

Maturity++ There are romantic as well as violent scenes.

Wisdom++ Warcross invites readers to consider moral choices as well as how to distinguish between truth and lies.