Don't Hate the Player

by Alexis Nedd

  PVP: Player vs. player, a game mode or server that lets players fight against each other instead of game-generated enemies.

  Sandbagging: A strategy in which a team holds back their best moves, players, or attacks in the first part or round of competition. Then, when the other team thinks they’re weak, they unleash the fury.

  Tank: A character in a game whose stats lean toward defense. Tanks can take a lot of hits, but their attack is low and they can’t heal themselves.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  MANY PEOPLE HAVE helped me, and some of them helped me write this book. Thank you to all of them, with special thanks to those who convinced me this was possible.

  To my family, Kevin Nedd, Venus Romero-Nedd, Ashley Nedd, Edythe Nedd, Uncle Pete, my titis and my cousins. Your love and encouragement made me think I could write a book and like always, you were right. Thanks for letting me use your name, Mom.

  To my agent, Steven Salpeter. You saw what I didn’t and I’m forever grateful for your guidance.

  To Jack Heller, Brendan Deneen, and Caitlin de Lisser-Ellen at Assemble Media, without whom this book would literally not exist.

  To my editor Claire Stetzer at Bloomsbury, thank you. It’s so much better now. Also to Phoebe Dyer, Lily Yengle, and Alexa Higbee for their marketing and publicity support, as well as Liz Casal for her beautiful cover art.

  To Thrive Ops, through all the thrives and thrivelets—Alanna Bennett, Anna Borges, Brett Vergara, Hayes Brown, and Matt Ortile.

  Those who have supported my writing before I even knew that’s what I was doing—David Sugarman, Margie Palatini, John and Barbara Ripton, Anthony Sellitti, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

  The denizens of Crimetown, where no one is innocent—Adam Rosenberg, Alison Foreman, Angie Han, Erin Strecker, Kellen Beck, Proma Khosla, and Levi, who is in charge.

  To the essential workers of Brooklyn, New York, for keeping this city running and me fed.

  To the game developers, designers, animators, QA teams, voice actors, and more who create the many virtual universes that inspire and delight me to distraction. I don’t understand your magic but I’m more than happy to play with it.

  BLOOMSBURY YA

  Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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  This electronic edition published in 2021 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  First published in the United States of America in June 2021 by Bloomsbury YA

  Text copyright © 2021 by Assemble Media

  For more information about Assemble Media, go to www.AssembleMedia.com

  All rights reserved

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Nedd, Alexis, author.

  Title: Don’t hate the player / Alexis Nedd.

  Other titles: Do not hate the player

  Description: New York : Bloomsbury Children’s Book, 2021.

  Summary: Sixteen-year-old Emilia, secretly a dedicated gamer, competes with her elite team in a major tournament at the same time she and her best friend are running for class president and vice president. Identifiers: LCCN 2020040664

  ISBN: 978-1-5476-0502-6 (HB)

  ISBN: 978-1-5476-0503-3 (eBook)

  Subjects: CYAC: eSports (Contests)—Fiction. | High schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Hispanic Americans—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.N386 Don 2021 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020040664

  Book design by John Candell

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