Now that I’m selecting children’s materials for a large public library system, I’m looking through review journals and publisher catalogs a lot. This means it’s easier for me to spot cover, title, or plot trends than it was in my previous position. The one that’s stood out to me most recently is the phrase “real life” used somewhere in the title; I find this interesting since it implies there’s a “fake life” the characters could be leading. Most of these book titles refer to online lives or lives led on some other screen (like the Castle). Here’s a tip for writers and editors: if you’d like your next book to stand out, don’t title it In Real Life. Just a thought.
All descriptions are via Worldcat unless noted otherwise.
Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenoff (May 2014)
The lives of two Minnesota teenagers are intertwined through the world of role-playing games.
You Look Different in Real Life by Jennifer Castle (June 2013)
Five teens starring in a documentary film series about their ordinary lives must grapple with questions of change and identity under the scrutiny of the camera.
In Real Life by Cory Doctorow (October 2014)
Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role playing game that she spends most of her free time on. It’s a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It’s a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends. But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer — a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person’s real livelihood is at stake. [Kelly’s review]
In Real Life: My Journey to a Pixelated World by Joey Graceffa (nonfiction, May 2015)
A confessional, uplifting memoir from the beloved YouTube personality. It’s not where you begin that matters. It’s where you end up. Twenty-three year old Joey Graceffa has captured the hearts of millions of teens and young adults through his playful, sweet, and inspirational YouTube presence (not to mention his sparkling eyes and perfect hair). Yet, Joey wasn’t always comfortable in his skin, and in this candid memoir, he thoughtfully looks back on his journey from pain to pride, self-doubt to self-acceptance.
In Real Life by Jessica Love (March 2016)
Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another. There’s just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met. Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she’s supposed to, but when her senior year spring break plans get ruined by a rule-breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him. [Description via Goodreads]
In Real Life by Lawrence Tabak (November 2014)
Fifteen-year-old math prodigy Seth Gordon hopes to compete professionally playing Starfare, the world’s most popular computer game, but when he gets the chance to move to Korea and train full-time, he may not be ready for the culture shock and leaving his possible girlfriend, Hannah.