A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019! “Gripping and timely.” –People “The YA debut we’re most excited for this year.” –Entertainment Weekly “A book that knocks you off your feet while dropping the kind of knowledge that’ll keep you down for the count. Prepare to BE slain.” –Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin and Odd One Out Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give in … Dear Martin and Odd One Out
Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give in this dynamite debut novel that follows a fierce teen game developer as she battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther-inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for Black gamers.
By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the “downfall of the Black man.”
But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for “anti-white discrimination.”
Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?
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I finished this in one sitting on a plane, and wow is it wonderful. Inspired by the energy of the opening night of Black Panther, Morris offers readers an important and fun new work of fiction that’s part The Hate U Give and part Ready Player One.
High school student Kiera Johnson struggles with studying, family, a boyfriend, a being one of the only black students in her school. During the day she deals with her white classmates and friends asking her for an opinion on things like dreadlocks, relying on her to represent the black population — a responsibility she’s not often interested in. But at night, Kiera’s designed a virtual reality (VR) game into which she can escape with other black players from all over the world — a space called SLAY.
But when a young black man attempts to sell SLAY coins for real money and is killed as a result, Kiera must contend with the social implications, the allegations of racism, the threats of lawsuits, and the mixed feelings from her family and friends — none of whom know she created the world causing so much uproar.
SLAY investigates and discusses racism, code switching, safe spaces, white supremacy, bigotry, hatred, and other topical issues. The pressure Kiera feels to keep her development of the game secret from her friends and family is especially interesting and lends itself well to discussion.
A read that’s both captivating and fun, SLAY commands attention, and I hope to see it on book club and high school reading lists soon after its release.
I was eagerly awaiting this book every since I saw the sale notice online, and it did not disappoint. To be honest, I had to step back about halfway through and digest everything that had happened to that point before I could move on. Kiera’s world literally hits very close to home for a number of reasons, and I need to unpack everything I couldn’t see right before my eyes before continuing. Once I did, it was an action-packed race to the finish.
A book that knocks you off your feet while dropping the kind of knowledge that’ll keep you down for the count. Prepare to BE slain.
This book blew me away! If I could give it ten stars, I would. The main character, Kiera is an amazing, powerful, brilliant, and vulnerable senior in high school. She developed an online multiplayer game, which itself is pretty fricken cool, but it’s so much more than that. She created a world, a place where she and all the other Slay players could be themselves, could be safe being themselves.
Then that world gets threatened. And Kiera has to figure out how to save it. Holy Cow! I need to go back and read it again now that I know the ending so I can savor it more slowly.
Every character in this book is perfectly illustrated. Not one single word is wasted with the stunning writing and Morris has you feeling ALL THE EMOTIONS, curiosity, love, worry, suspense, anger, sadness, joy, pride. Did I mention joy and pride?
I learned, I cried, I cheered! And I still have major book hangover. This book is about finding our safe places, bravery, and belonging. LOVED IT! Can’t wait to see what Morris writes next.
I wish I could give this more than 5 stars. And while I’m wishing for things, I wish that this game existed. And that I would be able to play it. Besides the game, the story is so real. Kiera’s struggles are so relatable. Ultimately, she’s just a teen trying, like the rest of us, to find the place she belongs. Only she’s extraordinary because she creates the most amazing place of her own.
Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give is an excellent description for this book. Slay is the perfect mix of gaming technology and social justice issues.
I loved the representation and female empowerment in this book. Black high school senior Kiera creates a popular and beloved video game that celebrates Black culture. The game is uplifting, creative, and engaging. It serves as a safe space for Black gamers. Short version, Kiera is a game developer genius.
I felt for Kiera as she thought she couldn’t share her whole self with anyone in her life. But the game was her safe haven. Kiera is a truly remarkable character.
I liked that Slay includes the perspective of other gamers. It spoke to the reach and impact of the game.
For audiobook fans, the narration is excellent! Narrator Kiersey Clemmons brought all of the energy and emotion of a teenage girl to bear in her telling of this story.
I enjoyed Slay so much that I’m purchasing copies for the teenagers in my life. They will enjoy a fun story about a topic that interests them. It also contains discussions of timely and controversial issues with positive messages and a great role model.
Love, love, love this one! The concept is so fun. I wish this game existed in real life.
A teenager, Kiera Johnson, creates an alternate world on the internet where black kids can play the game by invitation. She believes other games on the market are geared to white teenagers. Slay is a violent role-playing game. Kiera feels that if the players learn about the history of black people along the way, then the game is doing community service instead of harm.
Harm does happen when a teen is killed over a dispute on the coins that swapped in the game. Kiera is afraid to disclose her name. The game is referred to by some as discrimination against whites since membership is by invitation.
The author had good intentions, but she used an excessively violent game. The players create aggressive characters with cartoon-like bodies. I had to force myself to read through the minute details of the game.
What is the author trying to say? Does she believe internet games are discriminatory against black people? Is she showing how a good idea can turn bad?
Or is she trying to make a point about discrimination? I’m not sure.
This was such an amazing #ownvoices story! The author was able to pull in so many issues that teens, as well as even adults in this day and age are thinking or feeling or dealing with. And she touched on all of them in what I felt was probably a pretty realistic way. This video game wasn’t one that had a bunch of killings and senseless violence, it was a card duel type of game, one that used so many different “Black” customs and history in ways that were definitely tongue-in-cheek for those familiar with the terms or even just very, what’s the word, something like complimentary, but that’s not really what I’m trying to say. I don’t feel that in any way these things were done in an offensive or insulting way, it was like loving all the parts of yourself, as well as those who are alike and different. The book touched on many hot-topics or sensitive subjects that seem to remain no matter what. Like cultural appropriation, is it “okay” for white people to get dred-locks? Or is it even right to ask one person of a culture if it is okay, because should they be the ones to have to speak for everyone? There was the bit about having a game “just” for the black people. So many times you hear people talk about this with things like colleges and clubs. Mixed race couples. On the one hand, why shouldn’t someone be able to love whoever they want? But is it okay for a black man to think black women and men should only be together, that it is diluting their race to mix with white or other people?
The number of controversial topics and hot button issues touched upon in this story is amazing, but also so ideal for the current political and cultural climate. This book was not just really deep, it had great characters and action going along all the way through. I could barely put it down when I had to do things like eat or sleep or work. I can’t wait to purchase a couple copies of this for my school library where I work. And I will get more than one copy, because I can see this being one several students will want to read at the same time once word gets around.
Oh, one thing though, I think the word “ain’t” had been around long before ebonics or the AAVE are considered to be started. But I could be wrong! Makes me want to do my research!