Level up with books: The power of tech stories for young readers

We know the statistics about the literacy crisis, and authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians – the whole children’s books community – are doing everything we can to get children reading. My key contribution to that effort is to write books that speak to boys (and girls), that meet them where they are. That is where I feel we can best turn the dial – often through gaming and tech. 

There are rules, of course. When aren’t there? You might think telling a 13-year-old boy that a story has STEM themes would be a selling point. Science! Technology! 

But I’ve seen the opposite happen and, instead of promising excitement, STEM can trigger thoughts of curriculum – a double lesson after lunch on a Tuesday. 

Above all, they want to see tech go wrong – entities going rogue, like they can in Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox and even FIFA career mode. 

Think about Jurassic Park, iRobot, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, M3GAN and Smart House. Think about stories built around virus outbreaks (The Last of Us) and failed experiments (Stranger Things). 

We can’t get enough of them because there’s an irresistible attraction to controlled chaos. In entertainment, malfunction is way more exciting than perfection.

When I wrote my debut novel, Zero Override, my main goal was to tell a story that attracts reluctant readers – especially boys – with those same hooks: a world filled with exciting tech, young people using tech against the systems controlling it, and a national emergency when that tech goes wrong. It was also important to show that technology itself – especially AI – is not inherently bad or good. It depends how we use it. 

The structure of Zero Override is heavily informed by the language and structure of gaming too. I wanted reading it to feel like playing a survival game: propulsion, evasion, outsmarting, surviving challenges and levelling up. There’s constant movement and peril; NPCs and systems behaving unpredictably; twists and surprises; a big boss to overcome; and the countdown pressure of disaster. 

When I started writing the book, I pinned a sheet above my desk – a promise to myself about what the story was going to achieve. Through every draft, I tweaked and refined that promise. It still hangs there now as a reminder of how stories to help readers LEVEL UP their love of books. 

• L: Laughs. Funny moments, shocks, and did-that-just-happen?! surprises
• E: Energy. Pace, propulsion and cliffhangers
• V: Voice. Believable characters who joke, panic and mess up like the rest of us
• E: Escapism. Thrills, adventures and a break from real life – while still connecting to things readers care about
• L: Life stuff. Friendships, belonging and challenges that matter
• U: Us on the page. Readers see themselves – and people unlike themselves – on the page
• P: Pressure. Young characters making difficult choices when things are tough

Zero Override by Steve Blackman is out now.