SLAY

"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 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?

"This book adds another layer to the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo narrative. Exploring different versions of the African American experience, this is an important title for public and school libraries." School Library Journal

"...[D]ebut author Morris does a fantastic job of showing diversity within the black community....Gamers and black activists alike will be ready to SLAY all day." Kirkus Reviews

"More than a novel, this is a conversation about safe spaces, why they're necessary for minorities, and why we should champion their right to exist without being branded exclusionary or racist." Booklist (Starred Review)

Brittney Morris is the author of SLAY. She is also the founder and former president of the Boston University Creative Writing Club. She holds a BA in economics. Brittney spends her spare time playing video games, slaying at DDR, and enjoying the Seattle rain from her apartment. She lives with her husband, Steven, who would rather enjoy the rain from a campsite in the woods because he hasn't played enough horror games. You can find her online at AuthorBrittneyMorris.com and on Twitter or Instagram @BrittneyMMorris.

Playing and watching other people play indie games has taught me so much about empathy. SO many indie games tackle tough issues that I may have never been able to see a firsthand account of if I hadn’t played games designed by people who have been through such things...

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