Print List Price:	$13.99
Kindle Price:	$9.99 Save $4.00 (29%)
Sold by:	Macmillan Price set by seller.

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the authors

In Real Life Kindle Edition

by Cory Doctorow (Author), Jen Wang (Author, Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 1,244 ratings

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

See all formats and editions

Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role playing game that she spends most of her free time on. It's a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It's a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends. Gaming is, for Anda, entirely a good thing.

But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer -- a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake.
From acclaimed teen author Cory Doctorow and rising star cartoonist Jen Wang, In Real Life is a sensitive, thoughtful look at adolescence, gaming, poverty, and culture-clash.

This title has common Core connections.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Reading age

12 - 18 years
Print length

192 pages
Language

English
Grade level

7 - 12
Lexile measure

GN390L
Publisher

First Second
Publication date

October 14, 2014
Page Flip

Not Enabled
Word Wise

Not Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Not Enabled
Sticky notes

Not Enabled
ISBN-13

978-1596436589
See all details

Report an issue with this product or seller

Available on these devices

Jen Wang
3,412
Kindle Edition
Teachers' pick
1 offer from $11.99
Vera Brosgol
2,144
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $11.99
Molly Knox Ostertag
2,470
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $7.99
Jen Wang
1,062
Kindle Edition
Teachers' pick
1 offer from $9.99
Suzanne Walker
1,347
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $10.49
ND Stevenson
5,419
Kindle Edition
in Teen & Young Adult Fantasy Comics & Graphic Novels
1 offer from $14.49

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cory Doctorow is a regular contributor to the Guardian, Locus, and many other publications. He is a special consultant to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an MIT Media Lab Research Associate and a visiting professor of Computer Science at the Open University. His award-winning novel Little Brother and its sequel Homeland were a New York Times bestsellers. His novella collection Radicalized was a CBC Best Fiction of 2019 selection. Born and raised in Canada, he lives in Los Angeles.

Jen Wang is a cartoonist, author and illustrator living in Los Angeles. She is the author of The Prince and the Dressmaker, Koko Be Good, and co-author of the New York Times Bestselling graphic novel In Real Life with Cory Doctorow. Her work has also appeared in Los Angeles Magazine, The Believer, Hazlitt, Slate, and McSweeney’s. She has also written for the Adventure Time and Lumberjanes comic series. She is the co-founder and organizer of the annual festival Comics Arts Los Angeles. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Review

“A lovely graphic novel for gamer girls of all ages.” ―Felicia Day, star and creator of The Guild

“Stunning artwork . . . An educational introduction offers further insight into gaming and the economies and political implications behind them.” ―BCCB

“The combination of girls-only gaming; gorgeous, stylized artwork; and a meaningful, sophisticated message about online gaming makes this a surefire hit for readers everywhere, especially girls.” ―Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

“The illustrations of the game are vibrant and dynamic . . . The subject matter will have a built-in audience, and the appealing artwork will move this off the shelves.” ―School Library Journal

“Online gaming and real life collide when a teen discovers the hidden economies and injustices that hide among seemingly innocent pixels . . . Through Wong's captivating illustrations and Doctorow's heady prose, readers are left with a story that's both wholly satisfying as a work of fiction and serious food for thought about the real-life ramifications of playing in an intangible world. Thought-provoking, as always from Doctorow.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Characters come to life through Wang's fluid forms and emotive faces, and her adroit shift in colors as the story moves between the physical and gaming worlds is subtle and effective.” ―Publishers Weekly

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00NS3NBU2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ First Second (October 14, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 14, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 376929 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Not enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 192 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #565,670 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 1,244 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the authors

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Jen Wang
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
JEN WANG is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Los Angeles. She is the co-author of the New York Times Bestselling graphic novel IN REAL LIFE (First Second) with Cory Doctorow, KOKO BE GOOD (First Second), and the upcoming THE PRINCE AND THE DRESSMAKER (First Second/February 2018). Her work has also appearred in Los Angeles Magazine, Hazlitt, Slate, McSweeney’s, and Portland Mercury. She is the co-founder and organizer of the annual festival COMIC ARTS LOS ANGELES.
Visit her at www.jenwang.net
See more on the author's page
Cory Doctorow
Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.
Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently RADICALIZED and WALKAWAY, science fiction for adults; CHOKEPOINT CAPITALISM, nonfiction about monopoly and creative labor markets; IN REAL LIFE, a graphic novel; and the picture book POESY THE MONSTER SLAYER. His latest novel is ATTACK SURFACE, a standalone adult sequel to LITTLE BROTHER. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.
See more on the author's page

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

1,244 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Viktoria

Wow! such a great story with a vivid world

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2024

Verified Purchase

I was totally sucked in and got so emotionally wrapped up in the struggles of the characters. A masterful way to look at economics and workers rights through the lens of gaming and fantasy

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2023

Verified Purchase

The story and art were enchanting. It really went hand on hand.
At first I got this novel due to the art. It’s so colorful and the character design are quirky and cute. But once I started reading it, it gripped me til the end. How the protagonist is trying hard to help a gold farmer to how she held to her belief. She didn’t stopped and continued in helping even when people tried to prevent her from doing so.
In short, I adore this story and recommend anyone who likes a great story and great art to read this graphic novel.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Poindexter

A seemingly simple comic with deeper implications

Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017

Verified Purchase

In Real Life is a short story about a young girl named Anda, a high school student who begins playing Coursegold Online, an MMORPG recommended to her by a woman representing a guild in the game. Through the game and throughout the story, Anda learns to see herself in a more positive light, all the while learning about the world- both the game world and the real world. Anda makes friends, makes enemies, and makes mistakes, but she also learns from her experiences and demonstrates a valuable lesson to readers at the same time.

It's a bit difficult to talk about without spoiling what happens in the story, but essentially, the foreword of the book talks about using the story to teach a lesson in economics. It does so using Raymond, a Chinese user who is a paid gold farmer in the game. Despite warnings not to, Anda befriends Raymond and attempts to help him with some problems he's had out of game. This segment of the story is meant to be the book's economics lesson, which it certainly is, but saying that it is no more than that is a huge disservice to the story. In Real Life also serves beautifully as a allegory for racial discrimination and for classism in modern society. Though it simplifies the issues due to the book's younger intended audience, it does an excellent job as a starting point for discussions of these issues.

It would have been nice to see the authors delve deeper into these other points, though it seems unfair to fault them considering the target audience. Furthermore, the story is a bit on the short side, and the story would likely benefit from a deeper and more nuanced look at the issues Anda and Raymond face both in game and in the real world.

If you're looking for an in depth, addictive, or otherwise "must read" graphic novel, In Real Life probably isn't for you. However, if you're interested in a nice, contained story that dives just deep enough into serious issues to generate discussion, this might be worth your time. I think it might be best suited as an assigned reading for a middle or high school class, perhaps as the basis or jumping off point for a project of some sort.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Heather

Real message!

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2023

Verified Purchase

Loved this book! It has a really good message for the digital age. If you're a teacher, a good fit for your classroom library!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Lisa Mary

I loved this graphic novel that features a very likable protagonist

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2015

Verified Purchase

I loved this graphic novel that features a very likable protagonist: Anda. Anda is an reserved, chubby high school student who finds her niche as a gamer in an all-girls guild. This is completely outside of my sphere of experience as I've never played an on-line game in my life, but the plot was accessible and I felt like I could relate to what Anda was going through. Anda makes some real connections inside of this on-line game. She discovers things about herself and her character inside of this game. I loved her 'real' life as well, I loved her parents and her home. It all rang so true to me. I thought this was a very cute book, and I really enjoyed it. The graphics were fantastic. I loved how the characters and both the online world and the real world were portrayed. Not a long book, but it packs a punch. I have to give it 5 stars because it fully accomplished everything it set out to be and more. Really nice, this little book! I'm glad I found it and thoroughly enjoyed it!

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Erin Wolak

I grabbed Nimona up on a whim and absolutely fell in love so I told myself I was going to start ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

I don't normally read graphic novels. Single issue comics yes, larger graphic novels...not normally. I grabbed Nimona up on a whim and absolutely fell in love so I told myself I was going to start trying to pick up more. I came across a review on Goodreads for IN REAL LIFE and thought..hmm that looks like it could be cute. I'm a girl gamer so maybe this will hit home and I'll find something else I truly love. Sadly that was not the case.

I loved the art style and all of the colors in every panel were vibrant and beautiful. In addition the world building was done quite nicely as well. The characters I sort of have mixed feelings about however as I feel like while it took child labor (in foreign countries) which is a serious issue and didn't really do anything with it. Yes it was brought to the attention of the readers and yes the protagonist tried her best to help the player/person it was affecting but it felt forced. Most of the character interactions other than Anda and the Chinese boy felt forced and lacked much feeling or substance.

It did make for a very quick read and I am still glad I picked this graphic novel up however I just wish it would have hit home like Nimona or I Hate Fairyland did.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

PaigeM.

Perfection!

Reviewed in the United States on December 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

I love me some great graphic novels and this has got to be one of the best that I’ve read in a long while! Pair an awesome storyline with a kick ass female character and video games, and voila! You get In Real Life! I’m not even kidding when I say I read this in about 45 minutes because it was just THAT good. It was so refreshing to read a story where a girl (emphasis on girl) gamer goes through a story making mistakes, but also inciting changes in the world around her.

Anda was such a real character and I loved her perseverance to do what was right, not for herself, but for those of whom she didn’t even know. SO cool! I wish I could’ve had that sort of resolve at sixteen years old. I love how everything was wrapped up too, and the length of this graphic novel was just right. Everything was basically perfection.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Monika

story was decent

Reviewed in the Netherlands on November 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

Decent story but not super amazing. Had a kind of white girl saviour thing going on which made me feel uncomfortable...

Happy mermaid

Good quality hardback

Reviewed in Canada on December 31, 2020

Verified Purchase

Great graphic novel. Daughter loves it.

Karl Mac

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a great book toatly recommend

Cinthya

Me gustó mucho

Reviewed in Mexico on June 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

Entrega antes de tiempo y en perfecto estado...
Hermosa edición... De buen material...
Mi hija emocionada por empezar a leerlo...

Translate review to English

Mai

Absolutely stunning

Reviewed in Brazil on June 18, 2020

Verified Purchase

Beautiful art and beautiful story!
I wasn’t expecting it to be such a moving story with such an amazing art and interesting characters. I’m in love with it!

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Image Unavailable

Follow the authors

In Real Life Kindle Edition

Customers who bought this item also bought

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Review

From School Library Journal

Product details

Videos

About the authors

Jen Wang

Cory Doctorow

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries