Both for those who like playing video games and those who don’t, Trapped in a Video Game: Book One by Dustin Brady is a good book to read. While they are not playing a video game, they are still reading a story about the world of a video game coming alive and trapping two young boys in it.

Full of fun, action and adventure, the book is more suited for boys but as it is not gender specific, it will be enjoyed by girls too.

The story focuses on two friends who can’t be more different — Jesse, the hero, hates video games while his friend Eric is as crazy about them as any sixth-grader can be. Despite Jessie being very serious and focused, Eric is all over the place and ready to jump into action even before realising what he is supposed to be doing. So when the two get trapped in Eric’s new video game, they must work together and find a way to get out of it before it is too late and they are trapped forever! Reluctantly, Jessie must find a way to get out of this sci-fi dilemma.

The story stirs the imagination in a very refreshing way, and a very relatable one for those who do play these kinds of games. Written in an easy style with short chapters, the book is a page-turner with the plot moving swiftly enough to keep even reluctant readers hooked. The weird situations contain humour rather than horror, and the violence is kept to the basic video game level. Dustin Brady writes in a way that is not critical of technology and video games. He has written many other children’s adventure stories and there are a number of other stories in this Trapped in a Video Game series that have all been received well.

The book is a great read for both those kids who like reading themselves, and those parents who want to read aloud to their kids to get them interested in reading.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 16th, 2017