The Boy with Video Game Powers

The Boy with Video Game Powers #1

by R.L. Ullman

Kids who love video games will love this incredibly fun new series that packs video game excitement into every page from bestselling author R.L. Ullman! Perfect for ages 8-12.

12-year-old Milo Garrett may not be the biggest, strongest, or most popular kid in school, but in the gaming world, he’s an absolute legend. After using his elite skills to acquire an ultra-rare magical ring in his favorite fantasy adventure video game, Milo wakes up to find a real ring on his finger—and it gives him extraordinary abilities from the game in real life!

Now, Milo can see “stats” floating over people’s heads, use magical spells and weapons, and even level up. But Milo learns his new powers come with a catch—evil creatures from the game are spawning into the real world, and Milo is the only one who can stop them.

To succeed, Milo will have to defeat powerful enemies, acquire amazing new items, and boost his wavering confidence. But as he’s about to discover, being a hero in the real world is a lot harder than being one in a video game. Especially since he has a limited number of Health Points—and when they run out there are no extra lives.

Kids 8-12, reluctant readers, and adults will love joining Milo on his quest to level up from gamer to real-life hero. With non-stop action and laugh-out-loud humor, this highly relatable series unlocks an incredible reward—it gets kids reading!

152 pages, Paperback

First published May 20, 2024

About the author

R.L. Ullman is the bestselling, award-winning author of books for young readers including the EPIC ZERO series, the new THE BOY WITH VIDEO GAME POWERS series, the UNLEGENDARY DRAGON series, the MONSTER PROBLEMS series, and the PETUNIA THE UNICORN series. His fun, action-packed stories get kids to put down their screens and pick up a book! R.L. lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and two freeloading dogs with unusually strong editorial opinions. You can find out more about R.L. at rlullman.com.

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fighting

[M.K. Tufft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast-paced FUN!

This book is one fast-paced roller coaster ride after another, and is sure to be a hit with middle grade kids! Pure fun!

[Benjamin Le · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very mediocre story, even for young children. The plot is very predictable, and most of the characters shallow and lacking any depth. For example, you have your typical out of the mill bully, Tank, who harasses the main character, Milo (a loner who's new to the school) and his newfound friend, Leon, a weak dweeb who doesn't have many friends. There's also Claire, a pretty, smart girl who is the only one nice to Milo. And that's about it. We never learn much about Leon or Tank, and while some important information is revealed about Claire, she has no hobbies whatsoever. She is designed to be a love interest to the main character, a damsel in distress if you will, and thus she lacks any form of character that makes a story interesting. And despite her character being smarter than Milo's, her intelligence is never demonstrated. If anything, she's less smart than Milo. The secret villain of the story also has a very lame motive of taking over the world, which is pretty cliche. It leaves no room for character growth, as the reasoning behind this is because "he wants to".

Besides the characters being shallow and boring, the plot progression is also really off-key. Milo jumps from fighting a skeleton, to an ogre, and then to the main antagonists of the book: the Demons. It's such a large jump, and due to how quick the plot progresses, it leaves little room for other character growth. The book is mostly plot, plot, and that's it. No meaningful dialogue or anything of the sort. There is also a lot of plot conveniences. Milo just happens to get items that happen to help him beat the next enemy. There's little thought put into it.

The "stats" that are supposed to be one of the main focuses and niches of the book are very inconsistent, and not really focused on at all. Around six characters (besides enemies) have their stats revealed, and that's it.

The way that Milo also obtained the ring that gives him these powers also doesn't feel earned whatsoever. The sequence beforehand is pretty low stakes, and it doesn't really feel like Milo deserves to wear and possess the video game powers. Overall, it feels more like a power fantasy story. Boy gets powers because he's good at something and then he gets to save his crush. That's just how the story goes. This is an easy two stars. I highly recommend a more meaningful read than this one.

[Kym Coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son was asked to find a book he could read for a class project. After some research, he picked this one. I decided to read it ahead of him, and I was hooked. The boy is in 6th grade and 12, just like my son. It was such a great read! It was fun, exciting,, and relatable! Thank you for making reading fun! Even more excited to find out its a series!!

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this out loud with my 7 year old. I can't imagine an older child (like a 12 year old) enjoying this much. But it was fast-paced and decent for my younger child.

If Goodreads allowed for 1/2 star ratings, I'd likely give it a 3.5/5.

[Oli Pastor · Rating 5 out of 5]

It made my video game world come to life it was awesome I loved the book it was interesting when he fought the demons of havoc. I recommend this book to anyone who is a video game legend or master and anyone who loves action. I suggest that you should get your own copy now. It is good.

[Rachel Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jerome: “I loved it so much. I loved that he has video game powers. The best part was when he defeated Obsidius. I wish that Nikademos would have travelled all the way through the portal so he would actually have to fight him.”

[Cally Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed

I liked it, especially the stats. That’s all I have to say. I have to do more words on my review so that”s why this sentence is here, just ignore this sentence.

[Melissa McNamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kid friendly, early reader litrpg. My daughter enjoyed this as a bedtime read.