When I tell people I write fictional books about video
games, they’re usually shocked. This shock then often turns into one of two
things: either they find this idea suspicious the more they think about it, or
they think it’s a great idea that can get kids reading on top of playing the
video games they love. I’m really trying to go for the second response, because
I write books full of cliffhangers (to keep you turning the pages) that also
talk about real-world issues (like cyberbullying) to let kids know they’re not
alone.
In my Overworld Adventure series, the video game Minecraft
is a real place. (If you have kids or know kids who are into Minecraft,
it might as well be.) 11-year-old Stevie lives in the Minecraft world,
but he feels as if he doesn’t belong because he isn’t as good at building or
fighting monsters as his dad. Then one day Stevie finds a portal to Earth and
befriends Maison, a bullied girl who’s starting at a new school and feeling
insecure about herself. Their insecurities bring them together and make them
friends, and the series follows their adventures as they go back and forth
between the different worlds.
Through the course of the series, they battle zombies,
creepers, Herobrine . . . and have to deal with kid stuff. While the first book
talks about in-your-face bullying, the following books get into the realm of
cyberbullying after some cyberbullies hack into Maison’s computer and let
themselves into the Minecraft game there. In other words, they let
themselves into Stevie’s world, where they turn it into eternal night and
unleash zombies.
Middle grade readers are either just starting to go
online or will soon be doing so, which makes me think this is a prime time to
talk about things like cyberbullying and how to be nice online. But instead of
turning it into a lecture (ugh) I’m able to weave it into a story. I hope this
enables kids and adults they trust to be able to talk about real life
cyberbullying, and how you can talk or have disagreements online without it
having to turn mean. All this stems out of writing about video games.
While this is about video games, writers can use other
things kids already like and make new twists with them. For instance, I also
have a manga how-to-draw book out called Manga Art for Beginners,
because why not take a love of manga and channel it into your own creativity?
(And it has ninjas in it, of course.) On top of that, I have a Barbie comic
book coming out called Puppy Party, and in it you see Barbie and her
sisters coming up with ideas to get all the local shelter dogs adopted. Can you
use video games to tell stories about cyberbullying or a doll to talk about
animal welfare, while being entertaining? You sure can!
Danica Davidson is the
author of the Overworld Adventures book series for Minecrafters, with the books
Escape from the Overworld, Attack on the Overworld, The Rise
of Herobrine, Down into the Nether, and the soon-to-be-released (and
available for pre-order) The Armies of Herobrine and Battle with the
Wither. She is also the author of Manga Art for Beginners and the
soon-to-be-released (and additionally available for pre-order) Barbie: Puppy
Party.
Please check out her website,
her Amazon page, or follow her on Twitter @DanicaDavidson.
Awesome interview. Everyone knows someone who is obsessed with Minecraft; I think it's great that Davidson allows kids to follow their interest from one medium into another, while at the same time bringing up important social issues, like cyberbullying.
ReplyDeleteNIMROD used a lights panel as a display and was planned and made with the unique purpose of playing the game of NIM, which makes it the first digital computer device to be specifically created for playing a game (however the main idea was showing and illustrating how a digital computer works, rather than to entertain and have fun with it). Jackson
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