Book Review: Level Up by Gene Luen Yang and Thien Pham

From the time Dennis sees his first Pac Man arcade game at age six, he's hooked.  Too bad his parents don't agree - in spite of the super obvious hints he leaves pretty much everywhere, Dennis doesn't unwrap a Nintendo set for Christmas.  He unwraps a chemistry set.  His father has big dreams for Dennis's future - dreams video games have no part in.

Two weeks before Dennis graduates high school, his father dies.  The night of the funeral, he drives to an electronics store and starts playing - and he doesn't stop until he gets kicked out of college his junior year.  Turns out being an awesome gamer doesn't help keep you in school if your grades suck.  That's when his destiny finds him - in the form of four mini angels with very specific ideas about Dennis's future, specifically as a gastroenterologist.  Dennis is sure that his dad sent the angels, so after they perform a small miracle and get him back into college, he reluctantly ditches his games and starts studying.

The (admittedly cute) angels may be obnoxiously bossy, but they do Dennis's laundry, keep his apartment clean, bring him food, and make flashcards.  Their constant nagging keeps him on track - and gets him into med school.  Which turns out to be not so bad, especially after Dennis makes friends with Hector, Ipsha, and Kat.  The four start studying together, and Dennis doesn't really have too much time for the angels anymore.  Too bad they have other ideas.

By turns laugh out loud hilarious and heartbreaking, watch Dennis try to figure out how the heck to play the game of life - which is bad enough without bossy mini angels.  This one also ends with an awesome twist, so make sure you keep this one around for all those people who've ever told you playing video games is a waste of time (*cough* Mom *cough*).  For anyone who loves comics, video games, or has wondered what they want to be when they grow up, check out Level Up @ the library!

Megan
(who'll be starting Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury when I get home - if I can manage to stop (re)watching episodes of season one of The Vampire Diaries...)

Comments