The Leveller

April 1, 2015
Teens want to escape into virtual worlds, where they can remake themselves into gorgeous and heroic avatars; parents want their kids to pay more attention to homework and chores. This book is for both camps. Nixy Bauer is focused on earning enough money to get into a good college. She's a bounty hunter, hired by frustrated parents to pull their kids out of MeaParadisus-the kids call it MEEP-a virtual world where kids can go on spending sprees in virtual malls, remake themselves into the most popular kids at school, and experience danger and adventure, all while vegging out in their rooms. Her motto is "Nixy Bauer, Home in an Hour," and she delivers. So it's no surprise that she gets the call to rescue Wyn Salvador...except Wyn's dad created MEEP and should have been able to extract him without Nixy's help. It isn't until Nixy finds her way into Wyn's re-creation of pre-revolutionary Cuba and finds him stranded that she realizes Wyn's been kidnapped and can't get back...and now, neither can she. Durango writes her fast-paced techno-thriller in Nixy's voice, her sassy turn of phrase helping to distinguish the present-tense narration. She and her friends on the chess team swear to one another in Norwegian-an appealing quirk. Smooth entertainment equally likely to appeal to both gamers and nongamers. (Science fiction. 13-17)

April 1, 2015

Gr 7-10-Nixy Bauer is a virtual bounty hunter. Her parents are developers for a highly advanced virtual reality called the MEEP, and Nixy, an unofficial beta tester, uses her inside knowledge to make money from clients who hire her to "drag their wayward sons and daughters back from the MEEP." When she is contacted by the creator of the virtual reality, she is thrilled at the lucrative opportunity. But the job is especially hard, and when she finally reaches her employer's son Wyn, she discovers that he is trapped and that her job is actually a rescue mission. The romance that develops between the two and Nixy's damsel-in-distress phase in the middle of the book unfortunately detract from her otherwise strongly defined character. Nixy's personality is aptly summed up by her acquaintance Cooper when he calls her a "stinking, money-grabbing traitor." The teen defends her line of work by pointing at that "it beats bagging groceries or washing cars." However, Nixy's narrative voice-made likable and distinctive by quirks such as swearing in Norwegian because "it tends to get us in less trouble than the English F-word"-is a strong point that remains constant throughout the book. Despite differences in setting, this work shares some attributes with some popular dystopian titles, such as fast-paced action scenes, a strong female protagonist, and mistrust toward those in power. VERDICT An entertaining adventure that is sure to find fans, especially among gamers.-Magdalena Teske, River Forest Public Library, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Grades 8-11 Phoenix Nixy Bauer is a leveller, someone who is paid to retrieve stubborn teenagers from the fully immersive virtual reality world of MEEP. Saving for college so she can spend her life rich and in command, Nixy is pretty normal. That is, until the creator of MEEP sends her to rescue his son from the world he has created. What she finds is a maze of Wyn's creation, with deathly challenges around every corner. When she finally finds Wyn, he is being held captive by a group of hackers out for vengeance on his father, and they might never get out. It will take all her ingenuity (and not a few of her leveller tricks and equipment) to free them. And in a world where nothing's real, can she be sure of herself and her feelings for Wyn? First-time YA novelist Durango has a winner here, especially since the technological world building is as engrossing as the novel's game system. Readers will be pulled in and race to the adventurous finish along with Nixy and friends.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2015
Bounty hunter Nixy is paid by parents to pull fellow teens out of the virtual-reality world of MEEP when they exceed the time limit. When the game's developer hires her to find his son, she discovers he's not hiding but trapped. Readers probably won't see the shocking ending coming, and Durango adeptly balances breathless gaming action with rich character development.

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)