''SLAY'' is a young adult novel by American author Brittney Morris published in 2019.

Plot

''SLAY'' tells the story of Kiera, a Black high school student who develops and maintains the online game SLAY, a VR multiplayer world where players duel using cards giving them powers based on

Black culture Black culture refers to: * Culture of Africa * African-American culture * The culture of black communities in other parts of the world, see Black people See also * Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture The Schomburg Center for Resear ...

. Being tired of online racial harassment in video games, she creates the game for Black gamers. When a player in the game is killed by another player, the media criticizes SLAY for being racist by excluding white players. The story is told from multiple perspectives, including that of Kiera, her co-developer Claire, who is a

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

student in Paris, John, a professor of African American studies, and players of SLAY.

Major themes

''SLAY'' has been called "an incredibly raw and real depiction of modern Black identity struggles", and is referenced as an example of a novel exploring Black girlhood. It explores online harassment and racism in

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

contrasted with the pleasure of online gaming. The novel also portrays Black and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

gamers. The book has been described as " Ready Player One meets

The Hate U Give ''The Hate U Give'' is a 2017 young adult novel by Angie Thomas. It is Thomas's debut novel, expanded from a short story she wrote in college in reaction to the police shooting of Oscar Grant. The book is narrated by Starr Carter, a 16-ye ...

Reception

The novel was published by

Simon Pulse Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

after a bidding war between multiple publishers. Writing for the ''Book and Film Globe'', Sharyn Vane called ''SLAY'' "a gaming-themed thriller and a compulsively-readable exploration of the many facets of black culture." Writing for

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

, Jordan Snowden wrote that "'SLAY' is a book I wish I had when I was younger; not only does this young adult novel tackle big conversations in an approachable way, it features a strong, self-assured, intelligent young Black woman as the main character."

Awards and nominations

''SLAY'' was nominated for

Young Adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

Best Novel in the 2020

Ignyte Awards The Ignyte Awards are an annual literary award for the best science fiction, fantasy, and horror works and achievements of the previous year. Established in 2020 by writers L. D. Lewis and Suzan Palumbo Suzan may refer to: * Suzan, Iran (disam ...

. It has also won several other awards.

External links

''SLAY'' book trailer on YouTube

References

{{Authority control Young adult novels English-language novels Books about video games Novels based on video games Fictional video games Novels about virtual reality Novels set in Seattle Novels set in Paris Massively multiplayer online role-playing games in fiction Literature by African-American women 2019 American novels Novels about racism Novels about the Internet Novels with transgender themes