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Game Over!

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Book Synopsis

When Jay discovers a talent for computing, will he pursue his newfound passion or follow the crowd? A heartwarming story from the multi-award winning author of Anisha the Accidental Detective.

Can you be true to yourself without losing your friends along the way? Jay is excited about a game-design project being worked on by the Computing Club at school. He wants to join in, but there’s a big problem.

Jay’s friends think Computing is only for nerds and they want him to join a new football team with them. Both activities happen at the same time, so Jay has to choose.

Can he find the courage to tell his friends how he really feels, and if he does, will it mean their friendship is over …?

Particularly suitable for readers aged 9+ with a reading age of 8.

Our Review Panel says...

Set in secondary school, this short and dyslexia-friendly title tells the story of Jay and his quandary over doing what makes him happy or keeping in with his friendship group.

Jay has an interest in computing, and a talent for it too, according to his teacher, Mr Chan, although his friends think it’s for nerds. They have only one interest – football – so when his best friend Noah’s Dad starts a new football club, the pressure on Jay to join in is huge.

Jay knows that he’s not very good at football and would much rather go to Mr Chan’s new Computing Club, but the club falls on the same days as football practice, and Jay is torn between the two. He ends up lying to his friends in order to attend the club, but then an announcement regarding a competition and an amazing prize raises the stakes, and Jay’s web of deceit falls apart.

The characters are believable, with the bonus of seeing from the illustrations that various ethnic groups are represented. It certainly gets the positive message across that everyone is different, and I could see it being very useful in some football-obsessed classes in my school!