Eighth-grader Cy Orbick, champion of the World Saver online game, is sent to his aunt’s spiritual retreat to be cured of his gaming habit. Secretly, though, he takes along his laptop and continues playing the World Saver game’s bonus level. He is searching for a “globe,” a tiny replica of an alien world, and if he finds it he’ll earn a summer job at World Saver Studios in L.A. Cy’s globe hunt leads him to Space Ranch, a theme park based on World Saver’s alien realms, and finally into the raw New Mexico desert, where he learns that the game is more real than he imagined. And something tells him that World Saver isn’t quite what its name implies.

“For his debut, author Goldstein covers terrain that fans of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One will appreciate. Though instead of relying on pop culture references, Goldstein captures our attention with a genuine flair for the madcap … What begins as a YA adventure becomes a stellar rumination on the individual’s place in the world.” –Kirkus Reviews

“Well-written and fast-paced, Cypris’s story is a video game come to life, full of intrigue and adventure. The plot is fanciful but solid … this is a well-rounded and engaging work.” –BookLife Prize in Fiction