The Impossible Fortress
Its 1987 and Billy Marvin and his friends are 15 and want to get their hands on the most recent issue of 'Playboy', the one with pictures of Vanna White. They're pretty fanatical about it in fact. When it turns out that the best way of their getting their pervy hands on the magazine is distracting the store owner's daughter, Mary, Billy is their best best. Billy loves computers and is tinkering with coding his own video games. Mary then tells Billy about a video game programmers competition for kids. Soon the game becomes more important than the pictures. Young love blossoms.
The easy comparison, because of all the cultural references, is with books such as 'Ready Player One'. However, 'The Impossible Fortress' is a more innocent indulgence in pop culture, with all the focus on the thrill of programming and young love and very little dystopian nightmare. A game corporation does get involved though.... Anyway, this was a short and sweet YA novel that for once should appeal to everyone equally, its never too soon for cisgirls to learn what creeps boys can be, and for boys to learn some tolerance and the effects of their "locker room" talk.
brb, washing my hands and keyboard.
The novel also comes with a bonus feature - play the game Billy and Mary design! A nice touch.
