In Real Life is the tale of Anda, a young woman entering the world of massive multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) Coarsegold Online under the wing of another, more experienced female gamer. Anda is invited to an all-female guild to begin testing her skills and assisting with quests. One of the missions the guild undertakes is to deal with gold farmers - people who work to farm expensive in-game items and sell them for real-world cash to players who would prefer to buy their way to victory instead of leveling like the other players. While Anda, also known as Kalidestroyer, adventures, she meets a goldfarmer much different from the others. She soon discovers that on the other side of the world is Chinese boy trying his best to earn money for his family in horrible labor conditions. As Anda begins to understand the real-world impact of the game, her perspective shifts entirely. Doctorow has penned a tale that should speak to a wide teen and young adult audience. Many will empathize with Anda and her desire to escape into a fantastic world, but readers will also gain new perspective on the IRL consequences of their actions and behaviors. Jen Wang's artwork is a brilliant match for the tale, illustrating Coarsegold and "real life" perfectly. This should be required reading for all online gamers and is recommended for anyone feeling alone or out of place.

Interesting enough. I don't know much about gaming, but did skim the note at the beginning. I loved the art work and think that teens who know more about online gaming would enjoy the story.

A sweet and unique story of a girl learning about the injustices of the world (virtual and otherwise) and figuring out what she can (and should) do about it. Thankfully, when the white American thinks she can swoop in and fix everything she promptly falls flat on her face and realizes that the world is a complicated place and it's sometimes best to wait and learn more and even let others find their own solutions. And what's not to love about a plus-sized heroine who is comfortable in her skin?

“This life is real too. We're communicating aren't we?”

Holy heck.

1) This is the cutest story I have read in a while.
2) The artwork is absolutely beautiful.
3) The message is extremely important.
4) Need I say more?

I am incredibly impressed. I need to go buy a physical copy of In Real Life as soon as possible so I can get a better look at this amazing artwork! Seriously. I am a person of many words and yet, all my words are failing me right now. Doctorow and Wang strike the perfect balance between lighthearted fiction and the harsh reality of things. They managed to be informative about economics and class systems in a way that is simple for any reader to understand. I can't wait to read more from these two in the future. Highly recommend IRL to everyone.

My review is really not doing this graphic novel justice. Just go pick it up and see for yourself.

P.S. Gamer girls are awesome. Thank you for acknowledging that.

Simply fantastic. Doctorow paints a wonderful tale of a teenage girl Anda who through video games learns about real life issues. A poignant social commentary, like most of Doctorow's works, In Real Life is thought-provoking and insightful. I look forward to reading more in the future.

I'm a big fan of Jen Wang because of her exuberant art style and skill with visual storytelling. In Real Life is very fun, if, at times, a little light for the themes it's exploring. Every character is drawn with a keen eye for observational detail and despite being cartoonish in style, feel real. I recommend it!

This is a great book that brings together the life of gamers as well as the economics of supply and demand. I'm not a gamer, so I'm sure there were lots of things I missed, but I did like the main idea of a young girl learning about life across the world, realizing that the ways of Americans are not always the best answer to everything. As she, the gamer, digs deeper into the world, she meets a Chinese student trying to survive on his meager income. But health care, such as it is, is not able to cover the ailing student. So he couldn't perform his role in the game, lost hours of income, and must decide to either lose more hours or suffer in pain. Now the girl's ire is raving, and she is going to fight for justice for the workers. He got fired. No Bueno. All students in economics should read this book to show how ethics crosses often with economics.

Today’s comfort reading was In Real Life, by Cory Doctorow & Jen Wang. It delves into difficult topics like healthcare and workers’ rights within the context of an online MMORPG and the players. While aimed at teens, this graphic novel is educational and interesting to people of all ages. I devoured it.

Anda is a gamer that was invited to Coarsegold Online. While there, she makes friends with others in her guild and even got to know a gold farmer from China. This makes her realize that games are more than just fun for people and that real life can be very different from a game.

I was drawn to this book by the author as much as the subject matter because I'd heard Cory Doctorow was a great writer but hadn't read his work before.

The characters in the book are all kinds of gamers: those who play MMO's, those who make fun of casual cell phone gamers, those who play pen and paper RPG's like D&D, those who make fun of them, those who play board games and those who make fun of them. These intersect in all kinds of ways because gamers tend to cluster together and "other" the other kinds of gamers they see.

Anda, like every other gamer that starts out in an MMO, thinks badly of those that deliberately play the game to collect items and sell them online. It's against the Terms of Service in most online games but overseas has become a profession for many people. Because these are real issues that people face, it definitely makes you think about the consequences of gaming and an online presence.

The art by Jen Wang is beautifully done, with more vivid colors used for the online world. If you're a gamer, all of the little details involved in the panels definitely play off the interface in most MMO's: the health meter, a mana meter, the menus with item drops and gold. Even the character creation panels have lots of detail in them, it's almost a shame we don't get a chance to see the rest of it. There aren't a lot of background characters or illustration, perhaps to showcase that the game is in beta testing, but it also serves to focus on the characters themselves. There are real players behind the avatars, which can be easy to forget.

The only downside to this book was that it was far too short!

I wish for this book to be taught at schools. I wish for teeangers to read it, to feel understood and challenged in their views. I love the artwork so much, it is lovely, colorful, and full of expression. The story is both funny and important. You'll feel empowered after reading it. If you know a teenager, gift it to them. And then gift it to yourself.

Wish I had the chance to read the book, but the format would not open and could not get into the story.

Intelligently written, beautifully illustrated comic that will appeal to many and encourage people to think about their online responsibilities globally.

I would give this one a 3.5. As a teen graphic, I think it did a great job at being relatable to a group of people that aren't always given the credit they are due: the gamers, the nerds, the not-so-popular. Having the protagonist be a larger, mousy girl was refreshing for a genre that often depicts women as tiny-waisted wraiths.

The protagonist, Anda, joins an online multiplayer role-playing game called Coarsegold and is instantly hooked. After joining with a new friend to do side missions, she meets a boy whose circumstances make her question her actions and how they affect people in the real world.

While I think the topic is important and timely, I had a bit of an issue with how it came across. It was almost too didactic and tried too hard to convince me of its message. That being said, I do agree with the message of looking beyond what is easy and entertaining to see how our actions impact others. Overall, a well-drawn story with a thoughtful moral center.

I read In Real Life back to back with Eliza and Her Monsters, which as an excellent choice. IRL explores the context of connecting over the internet, in-game dynamics, and remembering that people exist on the other side of an avatar. Phenomenal art!

I loved this graphic novel. Not only is the art work beautiful but the whole premise of the book spoke to me as a girl gamer. A lot of the points hit true to home. Girl gamers are constantly being categorized as a lesser player (even though they may kick ass) and especially when talking on a headset so it is apparent which gender you belong too. I loved that the guild in In Real Life if an all girls guild, it gives back pride to girl gamers. I'm curious what the author's take on the over sexualization of female characters in gaming is. It was never touched on in the book, but it is a very large part of gaming today. Overall I absolutely loved this. I'm definitely recommending this book.

First, can I just say how amazing the illustrations were for this book! Completely loved them. The story plot itself was fantastic, it gives a real insight into what really happens online and particularly in these role play games. More of a book for teens, something that will warn them of the dangers of online gaming and how they need to be careful who they interact with and what not to share. It also shows them that life in other countries isn't the same as what they see in their own life.

If the plot was just as good as the art then this would be my all time fav graphic novel, but unfortunately the plot just did not go far enough me for. 10/10 for drawing and use of colour though, it made this a lot of fun to read. Loved the main character too, I just wanted it to go so much further.

Depth. It's a word not often associated with graphic novel stories, but this one has depth.

Anda is recruited in her computer class at school to join an online game as long as she makes her character a girl. Anda jumps at the chance. Once in the game, she quickly excels and gains notice by another lady gamer who calls herself Sarge. Sarge recruits Anda to help fight off gold farmers. Gold farmers are people hired to play the game to collect gold that can be sold for real money to lazy players who want quick advances. Anda has no problems fighting this injustice in the gaming world, that is until she finds a gold farmer, Raymond, who speaks English. She finds out that he works crazy hours in China playing this game, doesn't get health benefits, is sick, and really doesn't get paid all that well. Anda suggests he go on strike, but that backfires in him losing his job. Meanwhile, Sarge finds out that Anda has gone soft on a gold farmer and she loses it. Anda doesn't give up on helping Raymond though, and eventually they find a way to help out him and others at his place of work.

This is a spectacular book in that it will help bring awareness of sweatshop conditions of numerous workers around the world to a group of students who are probably ignorant of such things. I applaud the creativity of Doctorow and Wang in bringing together gaming and human rights in such a way. It doesn't come off as preachy, but it does bring awareness and it also is likely to help students envision ways they can do something to help such people. A great discussion starter! I can see this jumping on numerous reading lists and book club selections. This edition is a rerelease of the original edition. Nothing has changed that I noticed.

Notes on content: There's some moderate swearing from Sarge on every third page or so where she appears. Also very rarely some mild swearing from Anda. No sexual content. There are battles in the gaming world. Occasionally a character is shown severed, but there is no blood. Raymond's situation is sobering, but not bloody or overly abusive.

In Real Life is an accessible book, especially in a middle school curriculum that is working to engage high interest reading, social justice discussions, and the role of individual responsibility. It's also a text that can be used in an ethics, economics, social studies curriculum on the hight school level too. Our kids are highly involved in the online gaming world, so the revelations about the allure, the time, the feeling of urgency is realistic, and actually made me think differently about my own children's online experiences. Kids are building these types of relationships online that are building teams, cooperation, loyalty, traits we want to encourage. However because adults, or rather mostly k-12 female teachers over 30 are largely ignorant of the allure of these types of games.

I was struck by the power of the story to share information, key skills that can change individuals' lives. The sharing on worker organization, acceptable standards of living, real working conditions for children would prompt many a classroom discussion. I also liked how this book attempted to address the paternalistic viewpoint that "western ways are always best."

The artistic aesthetic is attractive, colorful, and also reinforces the realistic experiences... mom and dad are heavy, protagonist isn't perfect either. The allure of the online world is the reinvention or recreation of oneself and the use of avatars can help prompt that discussion.

When this book comes out, I am going to recommend our high school history and theology departments consider reading/incorporating since their curricula specifically addresses the role of social ties and the calls to social justice.

My favorite part of this Graphic Novel was the art style, I absolutely adored it. It was a fun, fast, and exciting read. I read more than half of it in one sitting, but then sadly had to go to class, but immediately started reading it again the second I could. I thought that it was originally going to be about just a geek girl who is obsessed with video games, but I was pleasantly surprised with the social issues that were presented in it. I would have loved a bit more build up about the game and the different things that I could be done within it, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I will forever hope for a continuation of this story with Anda and what else she does within the game.