Review: Rising Star (Cross Ups #3)

Title: Rising Star (Cross Ups #3)
Author: Sylv Chiang
Genre: Middle Grade, Contemporary
Publisher: Annick Press
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Format: Ebook
Release Date: October 8, 2019
Rating: ★★★★★

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Goodreads Synopsis:

The continuing adventures of Jaden, Cali, and the Cross Ups crew.
When Jaden gets a call inviting him to Comicon to test out a new version of his favorite game, Cross Ups, he is thrilled . . . sort of. He’ll get to go with his best friend, Cali, they’ll be in New York City, and best of all, he’ll meet his idol and the greatest gamer of all time, Yuudai Sato. But he’s got no time to practice, and worse, his signature moves no longer work. His trip starts to feel less and less exciting, and more and more like one big problem. Jaden has to come up with some solutions—fast. He looks to some older gamers for guidance, but is JStar willing to change who he is for the sake of a game?
With its sharp dialogue and relatable characters, Rising Star, the third book in the Cross Ups series, chronicles the ups and downs of middle school with a relevant, contemporary twist.

Review:

This is another great book in the Cross-Ups series.

The kids go to New York Comic Con in this story. It was timely, since it just happened a couple of weeks ago. Comic Con is the biggest event for gaming and pop culture, so it was so cool to see Jaden and Cali living out this dream. I went to BookCon a couple of years ago, which is held at the same convention centre as Comic Con, so I could relate to that part of the story.

A great part about this series is that there are both a boy and a girl main character. Jaden narrates the story but his best female friend, Cali, plays a lead role in the story. Though video games are typically thought of as a “boy’s” activity, girls play video games too. I’m glad that girl gamers are represented in this series.

I really enjoyed this story!

Thank you Annick Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Author: jilljemmett

Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book. View all posts by jilljemmett

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