Game Changer

by Neal Shusterman, Jennifer Jill Araya (Read by), Andrew Eiden (Read by)

Overview

"A timely, speculative thought experiment in perspective, privilege, and identity." —Kirkus

"The conceit behind Shusterman’s latest is truly unique. While it exhibits the author’s usual storytelling aplomb, it also manages to delve into more serious and timely subject matter, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Despite these heavy topics, the story still moves at a lively pace and, thanks to a zany sci-fi twist, manages to pack in a few laughs as well." —Booklist

All it takes is one hit on the football field, and suddenly Ash’s life doesn’t look quite the way he remembers it.

Impossible though it seems, he’s been hit into another dimension—and keeps on bouncing through worlds that are almost-but-not-really his own.

The changes start small, but they quickly spiral out of control as Ash slides into universes where he has everything he’s ever wanted, universes where society is stuck in the past…universes where he finds himself looking at life through entirely different eyes.

And if he isn’t careful, the world he’s learning to see more clearly could blink out of existence…

This high-concept novel from the National Book Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of the Arc of a Scythe series tackles the most urgent themes of our time, making this a must-buy for readers who are starting to ask big questions about their own role in the universe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781799948766
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/09/2021
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Andrew Eiden is an actor and winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award for narration. He has been acting since the age of four, working at regional theaters, in national commercials, and on numerous television shows.

Neal Shusterman is a New York Times bestselling and award-winning author. He is the author of Challenger Deep, a National Book Award winner, Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor Book, and recipient of six starred reviews; Bruiser, which was a Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) Choice, a YALSA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults pick, and on twelve state lists; and the Unwind dystology (includiung Thunder Head and Scythe), among many other books. He lives in California with his family.

Jennifer Jill Araya has been trained as an opera singer and orchestral cellist, lending a musicality and depth of understanding to her narration that help bring her authors’ stories to life. When she’s not narrating, Jennifer can be found hiking, biking, running, or generally exploring her home city of Cincinnati with her husband Arturo and their two children.

Editorial Reviews

01/11/2021

A straight, white, cisgender teen is confronted with his own privilege via iterative realities in Printz Honoree Shusterman’s (Scythe) ambitious speculative novel. In the first game of his senior year, defensive tackle Ash Bowman feels a strange sensation while sacking the opposing team’s quarterback. That night, he discovers that stop signs are now blue instead of red, and no one remembers otherwise. The next time it happens, Ash enters a wealthy existence where his family swaps tract housing for a gated community, and a third tackle has him attending an all-white high school in a world where segregation never ended. As each hit spins Ash further from the reality he knows, he finds himself grappling with realities of class, gender, race, and sexuality. Some gratifyingly complex character relationships help balance the action, but centering the privileged protagonist’s limited perspective means that characters with more intersectionally layered identities come off as secondary. Shusterman’s tackling of so many nuanced subjects fails to focus sufficiently on each, resulting in a thought-provoking work that only skims the surface. Ages 14–up. (Feb.)■

Publishers Weekly

"National Book Award winner Neal Shusterman's Game Changer is a brilliantly mind-bending YA work of speculative fiction...Shusterman fictionalizes these big issues while simultaneously making connections to our own reality, prompting readers to question how their own biases and privilege might distort their perception of the world. Game Changer is a book with a sense of humor and an existential bent that is overflowing with biting social commentary and aphoristic wisdom. Easy to read, with perspective-altering drama, this novel is on track to become the go-to contemporary fable for this generation of readers." — Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"A timely, speculative thought experiment in perspective, privilege, and identity." — Kirkus Reviews

"The conceit behind Shusterman’s latest is truly unique. While it exhibits the author’s usual storytelling aplomb, it also manages to delve into more serious and timely subject matter, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Despite these heavy topics, the story still moves at a lively pace and, thanks to a zany sci-fi twist, manages to pack in a few laughs as well." — Booklist

"A straight, white, cisgender teen is confronted with his own privilege via iterative realities in Printz Honoree Shusterman’s (Scythe) ambitious speculative novel." — Publishers Weekly

"Shusterman has an eye for clever concepts and a masterful control of pace."  — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"It's a testament to Shusterman's storytelling powers that he is able to develop a cohesive narrative across these multiple shifts, exploring the subtle nuances of how they affect not only Ash but the entire supporting cast." — Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

"The conceit behind Shusterman’s latest is truly unique. While it exhibits the author’s usual storytelling aplomb, it also manages to delve into more serious and timely subject matter, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Despite these heavy topics, the story still moves at a lively pace and, thanks to a zany sci-fi twist, manages to pack in a few laughs as well."

Booklist

"Shusterman has an eye for clever concepts and a masterful control of pace." 

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

"National Book Award winner Neal Shusterman's Game Changer is a brilliantly mind-bending YA work of speculative fiction...Shusterman fictionalizes these big issues while simultaneously making connections to our own reality, prompting readers to question how their own biases and privilege might distort their perception of the world. Game Changer is a book with a sense of humor and an existential bent that is overflowing with biting social commentary and aphoristic wisdom. Easy to read, with perspective-altering drama, this novel is on track to become the go-to contemporary fable for this generation of readers."

Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"It's a testament to Shusterman's storytelling powers that he is able to develop a cohesive narrative across these multiple shifts, exploring the subtle nuances of how they affect not only Ash but the entire supporting cast."

Horn Book Magazine

"The conceit behind Shusterman’s latest is truly unique. While it exhibits the author’s usual storytelling aplomb, it also manages to delve into more serious and timely subject matter, such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Despite these heavy topics, the story still moves at a lively pace and, thanks to a zany sci-fi twist, manages to pack in a few laughs as well."

Booklist

"Shusterman has an eye for clever concepts and a masterful control of pace." 

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Shusterman has an eye for clever concepts and a masterful control of pace." 

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

02/01/2021

Gr 8 Up—A hard tackle on the football field normally gives a linebacker a concussion—but every hit Ash Bowman takes throws him into new worlds, called Elsewheres. In the first Elsewhere, the stop signs are blue instead of red. The next hit sends him to an Elsewhere where his father is a professional football player. The next: Segregation is still legal. Ash learns this multidimensional jumping gives him the power to change the world—but only so many times. Once his time runs out, the world will be stuck however he's left it. One might have hoped a novel so firmly grounded in current events would more deftly tackle topics like racism, homophobia, and misogyny—as it is, this novel is a Chosen One white savior narrative. It is only after Ash, who is white and heterosexual, moves through alternate realities to experience firsthand discrimination that he learns these things are bad. Ash is deeply changed by what he learns across worlds, his narrative voice swerving between compelling and mansplaining as he pulls readers along. Shusterman's writing style instantly turns pages but ultimately isn't enough to make up for the problematic foundation the book was built on. "Arc of the Scythe" fans will likely be disappointed in this metaphysical novel, but the sports-meets-speculative aspects will draw in new readers. VERDICT An earnest novel that misses its mark, this is an additional purchase for collections where Shusterman's books already have an audience.—Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., IL

School Library Journal

Andrew Eiden and Jennifer Jill Araya share the narration of a story about how small choices can have world-altering consequences. Ash Bowman doesn’t spend too much time thinking about the larger issues in life until he discovers that his football tackles are shifting reality. Eiden portrays Ash for most of the production as a perfectly pitched football bro: casually careless and self-involved. At a pivotal moment, Jennifer Jill Araya takes over the narration for the same character and manages the tricky transition with ease. Her portrayal of Ash is a natural continuation of Eiden’s—but with just enough distinct touches to make her version stand out to the listener. Eiden and Araya create similar tones and styles for the secondary characters as well. N.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2021 - AudioFile

Andrew Eiden and Jennifer Jill Araya share the narration of a story about how small choices can have world-altering consequences. Ash Bowman doesn’t spend too much time thinking about the larger issues in life until he discovers that his football tackles are shifting reality. Eiden portrays Ash for most of the production as a perfectly pitched football bro: casually careless and self-involved. At a pivotal moment, Jennifer Jill Araya takes over the narration for the same character and manages the tricky transition with ease. Her portrayal of Ash is a natural continuation of Eiden’s—but with just enough distinct touches to make her version stand out to the listener. Eiden and Araya create similar tones and styles for the secondary characters as well. N.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

SEPTEMBER 2021 - AudioFile

2020-11-24
A timely, speculative thought experiment in perspective, privilege, and identity.

Ash Bowman is a White, heterosexual boy who doesn’t think too deeply about the plights of others. That is, until a jarring football injury shifts him into a parallel universe. At first, the changes to Ash’s world are small: Stop signs are blue, not red, for example. Then, with every tackle, Ash transports himself into a new reality, and the changes become much more pronounced. Characters change gender, social class status, sexuality, or even live in a world where racial segregation still exists. These changes in perspective prompt Ash to cultivate a greater sense of empathy and urgency regarding the suffering of others. But as reality becomes increasingly unstable, he must set the world back to rights. Ash is a clever, sincere narrator, and his journey of self-discovery is well-paced with solid twists at nearly every chapter’s end. But the project ultimately attempts to tackle too much, covering abuse, racism, homophobia, misogyny, class privilege, and more; this leads to little time and nuance dedicated to each. Unlike in real life, characters typically possess a single marginalized identity, and the interplay between struggles for progress in different areas is not explored, oversimplifying matters. The joys of queer love are shown, but experiences of being female or Black are largely presented in terms of oppression. Additionally, characters from marginalized populations are generally used for Ash’s own character development.

A well-intentioned project whose earnest messages of empathy and equality fall short in execution. (Science fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews