ASCENDING THE BONEYARD by C. G. Watson

Caleb Tosh has a solution when life gets too "real."  He dives into the gaming world in a game called The Boneyard.  In the game he participates in missions that help him feel in control when the rest of his life is crashing around him.

Caleb blames himself for the accident that ended normal life for his little brother Devin.  The same accident that split his already fragile family in two.  His dad was always tough on everyone, but now he's even tougher,  and watching his mother drive away with Stan the pest control man is the last straw for Caleb.

All life's disappointments combine to force Caleb into the game.  Separating real life from the challenges of The Boneyard begins to be more and more difficult.  Ascending to the next level to become Worthy absorbs Caleb to the point that even his best friend Haze doesn't understand.

 Caleb's life is filled with the UpperWorld, the UnderWorld, swarms of cockroaches, mysterious text messages, and impossible to find on-ramps.  Can he find his mother and can he rise above the guilt that he feels for everything that's gone wrong in his world?

Author C. G. Watson captures the online game world to a T.  I know teens whose lives outside my classroom are filled with game strategies, controllers, and hours upon hours of screen time.  ASCENDING THE BONEYARD is just the book to convince some of them that an equally amazing world can be found between the pages if they give Caleb and The Boneyard a chance.