Deadly Pink

June 11, 2012
Vande Velde again plays with characters caught in a virtual reality game in this overlong but satisfying novel. Fourteen-year-old Grace feels inferior to her pretty, popular, and smart sister, Emily, a college student interning at the Rassmusem Corporation, which is behind "total immersion, the next step beyond virtual reality" (the company's games also played a role in Vande Velde's Heir Apparent and User Unfriendly). When Emily refuses to come out of a game, leaving a cryptic note behind, Grace goes in to rescue her. Vande Velde provides a lot of setup as readers learn more about Emily's tragic story and "Land of the Golden Butterflies," a girly video game filled with sprites, sparkly clothes, dolphins, and unicorns. The plot accelerates when Grace discovers she and Emily are both trapped in the game, and she must figure out how to escape. Readers may tire of the endless mission, but they will find clever gaming details throughout and should appreciate Grace's growing understanding that she can be a hero both in the game and in real life. Ages 10â14.

July 1, 2012

Gr 6 Up-When Grace Pizzelli's older sister does not return to reality from a virtual video game, Grace is called upon by Rasmussem, the video-game company where Emily is interning, to enter the game and rescue her. She discovers that her sister is not trapped in the game, but rather she escaped into it after a serious falling-out with her friends in the real world. If she cannot convince Emily to come home soon, she may be lost forever. The plot is full of twists and turns-just as it seems as if Grace has convinced Emily to exit the game, another obstacle presents itself. The action mounts with the conclusion, which serves as a realistic cautionary tale against computer hacking. Vande Velde does a great job of developing Grace and Emily as authentic characters. Throughout the novel, the relationship between Emily, the sister who has everything, and Grace, the "levelheaded" one, evolves into "more one of longtime friends who have been through a lot" as they must depend on one another to survive. Grace's humor, wit, and sarcasm will be appreciated by teens. Readers who enjoy Deadly Pink should check out Vande Velde's other Rasmussem novels, User Unfriendly (1991) and Heir Apparent (2002, both Harcourt).-Nicole Knott, Watertown High School, CT

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