Content levels
Trigger warnings
Positive tags
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
Playing for keeps Jake and Nog have hit the jackpot playing holo videogames in the Amusement Arcade. An alien named Kwiltek has offered them jobs helping him run remote-controlled mining operations on a distant planet where dull mining is turned into a thrilling video game. In the "gaming room", teams of kids work together monitoring the operations by remote control, loading cargo and defending against the most frightening "threats" they've ever seen on-screen. Now Jake and Nog can show their stuff! Soon they're competing with other alien kids to see who can haul the most ore. It's the ultimate game—with pay! Until the night Jake and Nog slip into the command center and see a roomful of screens displaying real-life images of a devastated world where desperate natives are under attack by fighters that look very familiar! Suddenly the game is over—and the nightmare begins…
Is Highest Score appropriate for my child?
Suitable for most readers 10 and up.
Two boys discover their fun video game job is actually controlling real mining operations that are harming living beings on another planet. Moderate tension and moral complexity as they confront corporate exploitation, with implied violence through remote warfare imagery.
What to know going in
This book has moderate violence, no sexual content, and clean language. Content notes include deception, war, and exploitation.
Who'll love this
An exciting story where video game champions uncover a sinister conspiracy and must decide what to do when their game turns out to be dangerously real.