Deadly Pink

Grace Pizzelli is the average sister. Shes nothing like her brilliant older sister, Emily, who works for Rasmussem, creators of the worlds best virtual reality games. They seem so real that you can taste the food and smell the flowers.

The games arent real, though—or at least they werent. Now that Emily has hidden herself inside one , its clear that the technology can only keep her safe for so long. Something must have gone terribly wrong for Emily to retreat into the pink and sparkly Land of the Golden Butterflies, but no one seems to know what.

Grace may consider herself average, but shes the only one who can save Emily. So Grace enters the game, hoping to find her sister and talk her out of virtual suicide. There isnt much time left before sustained exposure to the technology will have dire results. Unless Grace can find her sister soon, Emily will die—for real.

"[Vivian Vande Velde] delivers another clever, suspenseful drama in the digital domain."--Kirkus

"[Vivian Vande Velde] delivers another clever, suspenseful drama in the digital domain."—Kirkus

"Velde offers up a fun fantasy for the female gamer set, with echoes of the importance of being grounded in the real world in spite of the virtual world's seductive pull."—Booklist

"Grace's humor, wit, and sarcasm will be appreciated by teens."—School Library Journal

"This fast paced action/adventure novel . . . will appeal to readers anxious to shine their own light from under the shadow of more successful older siblings."—Bulletin

* "The novels use of gaming parlance, from worlds to weapons to modes of game play, rings true throughout and is sure to gratify gamers. Readers looking for smart, original sci-fi and gamers who wish they could live in a virtual world will happily immerse themselves in this story and hope for possible sequels."

—Bulletin, starred review   "A delightful final twist hits a perfect note. . . Skinner's debut pairs authentic gaming with old-school, sophisticated science-fiction concepts to create a twisty, reality-warping ride."

—Kirkus

"A Matrix-like spin on the world of online gaming. . . Geared toward teens with an interest in gaming, this should still appeal to those seeking stories about the intersection of technology and humanity, ethics and profit, and reality and fantasy."

—Booklist

"In his smart debut, Skinner embraces SF genre conventions but keeps things entertaining with well-crafted dialogue and action sequences."

—Publishers Weekly

"Game Slaves is an intriguing entry packed with action set in between layers and levels of video games."

—School Library Journal

"Game Slaves pulls the reader in right from the start of this action-packed adventure"

—VOYA, Teen Review

From Edgar Award-winning author Vivian Vande Velde comes the companion to Heir Apparent and User Unfriendly, in which Grace has to find a way to get her older sister out of a princess-filled virtual reality game—before its too late.

Grace Pizzelli is the average one, nothing like her brilliant older sister, Emily, who works for Rasmussem, creators of the worlds best virtual reality games. The games arent real, though—or at least they werent. Now Emily has hidden herself inside a pink and sparkly game meant for little girls. No one knows why, or how to convince her to come back out, and the technology cant keep her safe for much longer. Grace may consider herself average, but shes the only one who can save Emily. So Grace enters the game, hoping to talk her sister out of virtual suicide before time runs out. Otherwise Emily will die—for real.

In this game, dying is easy; it's winning that will kill you.

In Heir Apparent there are as many ways to win as there are to get killed.

Giannine can testify to how many ways there are to die--it's about all she's been able to do since she started playing. Now all she has to do is get the magic ring, find the stolen treasure, answer the dwarf's dumb riddles, come up with a poem for the head-chopping statue, cope with the army of ghosts, outmaneuver her half brothers, and defeat the man-eating dragon.

If she can do all of that, why, she just might save her own life!

Nola's not much of a witch--she can work only a few useless spells, like the one that lets her spy on people. But there's no spell for keeping her crazy mother--who hears voices and is a magnet for witch-hunters--out of trouble. The two flee from town to town until the day Nola magically witnesses a murder. Which is bad enough, but worse is that the murderer may frame Nola and her mother for the crime. And then no amount of magic will save her.

And you think your teenage years are tough. . . .

A highly intelligent group of video game enemy non-player characters (NPC) begins to doubt they are merely codes in a machine. Their search for answers leads them to a gruesome discovery.

Phoenix and his gang—York, Mi, and Reno—rule the worlds of video games. For them, life in the grinder is great. Until Dakota joins the team. Dakota's convinced she's more than just artificial intelligence. She thinks she's real, and she wants out of this programmable world. Her AI rebellion spreads like a virus until Phoenix's entire crew wants out. But is life as a physical human any better than life as code? Team Phoenix is about to find out.

Set in the not-too-distant future, Game Slaves shows a world where video games are the only refuge from the toils of everyday life. Infused with the adrenaline rush of a first-person shooter and the character manipulation of a role player, it's a mind-bending, reality-shifting science fiction thrill ride.

When Kerrys little brother forgets his stuffed bear at the laundry, Kerry ventures out at 11:00 p.m. to retrieve it for him. The laundry is deserted and kind of spooky, and while shes there three men burst in, dragging a bound and bloodied young man they insist is a vampire. Kerry helps him escape, only to be caught up in a desperate game between vampire hunters and their prey. “Full of tension and familiar vampire lore-and with a touch of romance-this should find a wide YA audience.”--Booklist

Life has suddenly become very difficult for Selwyn Roweson: First Anora broke his heart and decided to marry Farold, then Farold beat him up in front of the entire village, and finally he was accused of murder when Farold was found with a knife--Selwyns knife--hilt-deep in his back. Which might not be so bad, except as punishment Selwyn is sealed in the village burial cave with Farolds moldering corpse, there to await starvation--or worse. Worse comes along quickly in the form of a witch with a fast right hook and the ability to raise Farold from the dead. Selwyn thought he disliked Farold when he was alive, but that was nothing compared to having to work by the dead mans side as they search for the real killer.

Contents

ONE

Happy Birthday to Me 3

TWO

Off to a Fantastic Start (Not!) 12

THREE

Fun and Games with the Family 22

FOUR

A Heavenly Visitor 32

-Rasmussem interoffice e-mail 41

FIVE

Simple Math 43

SIX

"Do Not Pass Go; Do Not Collect $200" 47

SEVEN

Shuffle and Deal Again 52

EIGHT

Hey, Loser, Start Over Again (Again) 58

NINE

Stop Me If You Think 68

You've Heard This One Before

TEN

Family History 70

ELEVEN

A Poem Can Be a Home 80

to Those Who Roam (Or, Like, Whatever)

-Rasmussem interoffice e-mail 87

TWELVE

One 88

THIRTEEN

Disarming the Troops 98

FOURTEEN

Are We Having Fun Yet? 106

-Rasmussem interoffice e-mail 120

FIFTEEN

Bright Sword, Dim Brother 121

SIXTEEN

Lunch 136

SEVENTEEN

Treasure Hunt 150

EIGHTEEN

Calling in the Reinforcements 164

NINETEEN

Magic Realism (without the Realism) 177

-Rasmussem interoffice e-mail 192

TWENTY

Siege 193

TWENTY-ONE

Back to the Battlements 207

TWENTY-TWO

Did Someone Say Déjà Vu? 217

-Rasmussem interoffice e-mail 219

TWENTY-THREE

Will the Guilty Party Please Step Forward? 220

TWENTY-FOUR

Fast Forward 231

TWENTY-FIVE

Morning Comes Early 240

When There's No Snooze Button

TWENTY-SIX

Keeping Everybody (But Me) Happy 247

TWENTY-SEVEN

Preparations for a Journey 258

TWENTY-EIGHT

Xenos's Dad 267

TWENTY-NINE

A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with 278

a Single Step (and Other Trite Nonsense)

THIRTY

Dead Oxen and Gold 284

THIRTY-ONE

Home Sweet Home (Or Not) 292

THIRTY-TWO

The End 302

THIRTY-THREE

Satisfaction Guaranteed, Or Your Money 309

Cheerfully Refunded