News & Features » February 2014 » VIDEO: The Wall Street Journal Calls Game World “‘Narnia’ for the Social Media Generation”
VIDEO: The Wall Street Journal Calls Game World “‘Narnia’ for the Social Media Generation”
The Wall Street Journal Online recently sat down with C.J. Farley to discuss Game World, his newest book for middle-grade readers. In the article published on the Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog, Barbara Chi writes:
In the age of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr, how do you get kids to read an actual book?
In his first novel for young readers, Game World, author and Speakeasy editor Christopher John Farley takes on the challenge. Farley, who has two young children, sees the effects of the Internet, movies and video games on kids, and the diminishing appeal of books in a world of instant entertainment. He wanted to write a fantasy book that attracts kids and activates their imagination.
“There’s something important about building these images in your own head. Not just getting it from movies, not just getting it from a joystick or a controller, but really getting it from reading the book,” he said.
Game World is about a role-playing video game tournament, in which pre-teen Dylan competes for the top prize so he can help his struggling family. He and his sister Emma and best friend Eli, along with Ines, the daughter of the billionaire corporate executive behind the tournament, find themselves caught up in an unexpected life-or-death adventure when Dylan’s skills unlock a real-life fantasy world within the game.
The kids are from diverse backgrounds—a rarity among young adult fantasy books. Farley, a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, said he doesn’t always see people who look like him or his kids in fantasy literature. “People should have the opportunity to dream in color,” he said. “I thought, let me write a fantasy book that looks like the kids in the classroom that my son goes to, so they can have people in books that really reflects their experiences.”
Watch the full interview with Sara Murray below:
Posted: Feb 6, 2014
Category: News | Tags: C.J. Farley, C.S. Lewis, Game World, interview, J.R.R. Tolkein, Jamaica, Speakeasy, Video, Wall Street Journal, Xamaica