Game Changer

Ash Bowman is one of the stars of his American football team. An all-round decent guy with a tight group of friends and a good head on his shoulders. But his neatly ordered and unremarkable world is jolted when he takes a heavy tackle in a game and finds himself in another dimension, a slightly altered version of his own world.

Disorientated, Ash manages to establish himself in this familiar but different world and realises how decisions and injustices can reverberate through time. He soon meets the Edwards - one inter-dimensional character with multiple personalities who provide Ash with a link between worlds and a possible escape back to his own. But can Ash do the right thing and tackle privilege, injustice and temptation?

Setting out its agenda in the first chapter, Game Changer feels like a bit of a slow starter. An introduction to the characters lets the reader see their subtle and sometimes not so subtle deficiencies and prejudices. But the book soon gathers pace and interest as a myriad of time-slip scenarios are played out.

Ash is a strong and self-aware narrator and as the book gathers pace you become more engaged in its resolution. Game Changer lacks the power and shock value of some of Shusterman's other books, particularly the Scythe series, but it's still very readable and makes some strong points about gender, identity and race.

400 pages / Ages 12+ / Reviewed by Clare Wilkins, school librarian

Suggested Reading Age 11+