Arcade World: Dino Trouble by Nate Bitt, illustrated by Joao Zod and Glass House Graphics

Over the last few years Little Simon, which publishes a lot of beginning chapters, media tie-ins, and board books, has expanded their beginning chapter offerings into graphic novels. Some of them are spin-offs of popular series, like Super Turbo, Rider Woofson, and Kingdom of Wrenly. Others, like Arcade World and Guardians of Horsa, are original.

Their themed pseudonyms continue in their graphic novels (think "Wanda Coven" for the Heidi Heckelbeck series or "Callie Barkley" for Critter Club). This graphic novel series is based off gaming, so the author is listed as a gamer and given the name of "Nate Bitt" and the graphics, although attributed primarily to a particular artist, are done by a design studio that handles most of Little Simon's graphic art for other, similar series.

Travis, a white boy with square-rimmed glasses, and his wilder friend Journey, a Black girl with what looks like a green Pikachu hat, are delighted and confused when a mysterious arcade appears in town. Even better, all the games are free! The creepy owner, Mr. E. Miniboss, encourages them all to play. But there's one game that Travis hasn't bothered with - Dino World. It's just too cutesy, with candy dinosaurs and lots of sweets and glitter. However, under the urging of Mr. E. Miniboss, he gives in and tries it out. Having ignored the game, he is quickly scorched by the biggest T-Rex and the game is over... or is it?

Later on, he and Journey find themselves playing the game in real life and are both intrigued and terrified by being attacked by dinosaurs, finding easter eggs in the park that give them unlimited ice cream, and defeating the big boss dino. They are suspicious when they see the game being removed from the arcade with a giant hole in its screen, but are triumphant when they survive and win and determined to find out the secret. The book ends with a tantalizing glimpse of Mr. E. Miniboss and his creepy master, a hooded figure looming out of an arcade game.

The graphics are simplistic and sometimes pixelated, fitting in with the theme of the book, and the text is brief and simple as well. I kept expecting the story to get gorier or for their survival to be more questionable and then I'd remember that it's directed at a much younger audience than the graphic novels I've been reading!

Verdict: This is a very serviceable series that will be popular with kids who love Press Start and other game-related fiction. It's simple to follow and has lots of action and humor but not too much peril. I've found these titles to be sturdy even in paperback, but they are also available in hardcover. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781665904643; Published February 2022 by Little Simon; Purchased for the library