Slay - Brittney Morris

 Kiera Johnson is one of a handful of Black kids at Jefferson Academy. She spends her days trying to lay low, and dodge questions like "Is it offensive if I wear dreads?" from her white classmates. But every night, she rushes home to log on to Slay, a card-based dueling MMORPG designed by Black gamers for Black gamers. Designed by Kiera, specifically. With the help of just one faithful moderator, Kiera (or Emerald, in-game) has devoted years to designing, building, and maintaining this safe haven. 

But when an in-game dispute leads to a real life murder, Kiera has to navigate the fallout. The media learns about the existence of Slay and immediately vilifies the game, insisting it is racist and promotes violence. If that wasn't bad enough, a troll infiltrates Slay and begins terrorizing players. He's even threatening to sue Emerald, if he can figure out who she is... 

I read this book entirely in one sitting (in part because I had borrowed it and didn't want to be rude by keeping it too long, but that's neither here nor there). Slay is an engaging and upsetting novel, as a story confronting racism and misogyny ought to be. 

By far, my favorite character is Kiera's sister Steph. Steph never lets a rude comment go unanswered, she refuses to be belittled, and she is just a good and supportive sister. 

Overall, this story is told from Kiera's point of view. But there are short chapters, excerpts from the lives of Slay players, that show how profoundly the game has impacted people. I think it was a brilliant idea for the author to intercut Kiera's struggles to save Slay with short glimpses of how much Slay has helped people. 

If you're interested in reading Slay, you can pick up a copy at your local library!