Head Games

by Mariah Fredericks

Book Overview

REALITY? I'd give it a C-. That's what fifteen year old Judith Ellis thinks, anyway. Reality is her former best friend not talking to her this year. Reality is her dad living three thousand miles away. Reality is what happened outside 158 West Seventy-first Street, New York City. To Judith, fantasy rules. Particularly in the Game, which she plays online with a bunch of strangers she knows only as the Witch, the Drunken Warrior, and Irgan the Head...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416913351
• ISBN13: 9781416913351
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.0"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Honest, gritty, yet beautiful.

I first stumbled onto this book some years ago on the "recommended reading" table at the local library. I was looking for something light to serve as a guilty pleasure between term papers, but found myself unexpectedly drawn in. I ordered a copy of my own the next day. Faced with the loss of her best friend, the gradually widening distance with her father, an overprotective mother, and a traumatic experience she cannot bring herself to share with anyone, Judith retreats into the world of online gaming, where she can be anyone but herself. Cue Jonathan, the cute but troubled boy from down the hall, with whom Judith finds an unexpected connection. Many fictional portrayals of teens tend to feel either stereotypically shallow or artificially dark or "angsty." Fredericks' characters have so much more dimension to them and by the end of the book I felt like I had known them for years. Finishing the last page and closing the cover felt exactly like it should - I was satisfied, and yet starving for more.

amazing... i actually related to her

Head Games was an amazing book. my teacher was bugging me to pick up a book to just read, so i just grabbed a random one off the shelf (also i loved the cover) but im so glad that i got this book. its one of the few books that i actually read, that i actually related to, and that actually made me think about my own life. i would recomend head games to any person who can relate to someone trying to find his/her self. it is a fantastic novel.

Engaging and hopeful

Judith Ellis lives in a fantasy world --- after school on her computer, that is. Reality isn't so great, with her former best friend not speaking to her and trying to deal with a traumatic incident from a few months ago. So New York City does not hold her interest like her fantasy game does. She's good at it, and she thinks about the Game constantly. It occupies her head when she has no one to eat with at lunch, when she is trying to avoid speaking in her math class, and when she has no one to hang with after school. That is, until one player seems to go after her particularly. Real life holds some surprises too, especially in her neighbor-with-the-bad-reputation Jonathan. Their budding friendship veers from confusing to comforting to intriguing, but never dull. Judith's long-distance father begins to connect with her through the phone lines. Tutoring ditz Katie then teaches Judith that her assumptions are often wrong and that everyone lives in their own version of a fantasy world. Mariah Fredericks creates engaging and surprising characters, much like the Sim characters beloved by Katie. Judith wants neat, easy answers like everyone, but they are not available even in fantasy games. HEAD GAMES offers no easy endings, but a reality that is interesting and hopeful. --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

Excellent narrative voice and strong characters.

"Head Games" is a wonderful, easy read, primarily because the main character's narrative voice is so conversational, intelligent, and funny. Both the female lead character and the main male character are strongly drawn, and the novel deals unblinklingy and helpfully with such common teenage issues as alienation, sexuality, and "popularity." The relationship between main characters Judith and Jonathan is realistic and refreshing. Too many books focus on teen sex for its own sake, instead of looking at the emotional interactions that exist between young men and women. "Head Games" tackles the latter category and focuses on the emotional connections between main characters Judith and Jonathan. In doing so, the book grants teenagers their humanity. The book seems to be saying that there's much more to being a teenager than sex and gender; sometimes, boys and girls can connect as human beings. As "Head Games" demonstrates, young adult fiction sometimes can involve no teenage sex at all (except for a kiss) and still be quite wonderful.

This author just keeps getting better

Much as I liked The True Meaning of Cleavage, I think Head Games is even better. To me, the characters seemed more interesting, and their relationships more complex. I especially liked the parallels between online gaming and the "games" that go on in school, among neighbors, and within families. A good story, a great read. Can't wait to see what Mariah Fredericks will write next.