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WORK TITLE: Kat and Meg Conquer the World
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://annapriemaza.com/
CITY:
STATE: AB
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Married.
EDUCATION:University of Alberta, Bachelor of Laws (with distinction), 2010.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Young adult author, novelist, and attorney. Admitted to the bar of Alberta, Canada, 2011. McCuaig Desrochers LLP (law firm), Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, partner in law firm and family and immigration lawyer; Alberta Family Mediation Society, practicing mediator. Albert Court of Queen’s Bench, former clerk. Edmonton Mennonite Center for Newcomers, member of board of directors; Vanguard College, member of board of directors; Kids on Track Association of Edmonton, former director.
AVOCATIONS:Knitting, video games.
AWARDS:Recipient of academic scholarships and awards, including the Joseph Paul Brumlik Scholarship for Excellence in Advocacy.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Anna Priemaza is a young adult author and attorney based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is a practicing family and immigration lawyer with the firm McCuaig Desrochers. “She is passionate about providing legal support and advice to people who are going through what is often one of the most stressful periods of their lives,” noted a writer on the McCuaig Desrochers Website. Her specialties in immigration law include helping individuals and companies with the specifics of Canadian immigration, international adoptions, citizenship, hiring and retaining foreign workers, and applications for visitors, workers, and students. She also works in the field of adult guardianship and trusteeship. Priemaza is a practicing mediator with the Alberta Family Mediation Society and encourages family disputes be settled through mediation rather than litigation. She earned a Bachelor of Laws degree (with distinction) from the University of Alberta.
In her first young adult novel, Kat and Meg Conquer the World, Priemaza tells the story of her title characters, two high school students who struggle with their social lives, their family lives, and the effects of psychological conditions that cause difficulties for each. Kat is a new arrival to Ontario from Alberta, and has frequent panic and anxiety attacks. This makes it difficult for her to make friends, even more so since she has to maintain a sense of control at all times. Meg has ADHD and is much more outgoing than Kat, but she has trouble with academics, especially with subjects that don’t capture her attention and interest.
When Kat and Meg find themselves assigned to a joint science project that will last for the entire school year, they gradually form a friendship that overcomes their issues and lets them work together. They focus on their mutual interest in the online video game Legends of the Stone and the young YouTube celebrity LumberLegs, whose fame is based on his looks and on the videos he posts of him playing the game. Kat and Meg decide to use the game as part of their science project, studying the effects of sugar on reaction times in the game. Kat experiences a growing romantic interest in an online gamer, while Meg wrongly decides to escalate her relationship with her boyfriend. While they navigate both the online world and real life, Kat and Meg support each other through their troubles and demonstrate the importance of having real and lasting friendships.
Trilby Kent, writing in Quill and Quire Online, observed that Kat and Meg Conquer the World “does the important work of inspiring young readers to consider life in another’s shoes, while reassuring many more that they are not alone.” A Kirkus Reviews writer observed, “Kat and Meg’s relationship adds a much-needed portrait of the importance of female friendship in an overstimulating, modern world.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded, “Genuine friendship leads to acts of great courage in this entertaining and heartwarming story.” In a Voice of Youth Advocates review, Jane Van Weimokly commented that Priemaza “skillfully portrays the doubts of teens struggling with mental health issues,” as well as “changed family dynamics: and the “effort it takes to start and maintain a trusted friendship.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Avenue, April 1, 2018, Breanna Mroczek, “Q&A: Young-Adult Novelist Anna Priemaza.”
Booklist, October 15, 2017, Lexi Walters Wright, review of Kat and Meg Conquer the World, p. 51.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2017, review of Kat and Meg Conquer the World.
Publishers Weekly, September 11, 2017 , review of Kat and Meg Conquer the World, p. 69.
Resource Links, October, 2017, Leslie Vermeer, review of Kat and Meg Conquer the World, p. 43.
School Library Journal, October, 2017, Betsy Fraser, review of Kat and Meg Conquer the World, p. 113.
Voice of Youth Advocates, December, 2017, Jane Van Weimokly, review of Kat and Meg Conquer the World, p. 61.
ONLINE
Anna Priemaza Website, http://www.annapriemaza.com (May 7, 2018).
McCuaig Desrochers LLP Website, http://www.mccuaig.com/ (May 7, 2018), biography of Anna Priemaza.
Quill and Quire Online, https://www.quillandquire.com/ (May 7, 2018), Trilby Kent, review of Kat and Meg Conquer the World.
Anna Priemaza is a contemporary young adult author and a practicing family and immigration lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta, where she lives with her husband. She can never quite remember how old she is, as she knits like an old lady, practices law like an adult, fangirls over YouTubers like a teen, and dreams like a child.
Anna Priemaza
Biography
Anna Priemaza is a contemporary young adult author and a practicing family and immigration lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta, where she lives with her husband. She can never quite remember how old she is, as she knits like an old lady, practices law like an adult, fangirls over YouTubers like a teen, and dreams like a child. www.annapriemaza.com
Anna Priemaza
Anna Priemaza practices primarily in the areas of immigration, family law, and adult guardianship/trusteeship. She is passionate about providing legal support and advice to people who are going through what is often one of the most stressful periods of their lives—whether separating from a spouse or partner, dealing with the uncertainty of the immigration process, or watching a loved one’s mental capacity gradually or suddenly deteriorate.
Anna is registered as a Collaborative Family Lawyer, and as a Practicing Mediator with the Alberta Family Mediation Society. She encourages her clients to take control of their own lives and work together with their former partner to make decisions about their family’s future, rather than giving that power to a stranger in a courtroom. However, she is an experienced litigator and is comfortable in a courtroom setting when needed.
In the area of immigration, Anna assists both individuals and companies with the Canadian immigration process, including: family sponsorships; international adoptions; visitor, worker, or student applications and extensions; permanent residence applications, such as through the Express Entry process; citizenship; and hiring or retaining foreign workers.
Anna graduated on the Dean’s List with a Bachelor of Laws (with Distinction) from the University of Alberta in 2010. While a student, Anna received numerous academic scholarships and awards, including the Joseph Paul Brumlik Scholarship for Excellence in Advocacy. She is a former clerk of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.
Outside of practicing law, Anna is actively involved in numerous community organizations. She is on the Board of Directors of the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, on the Board of Directors of Vanguard College, and a former Director of Kids On Track Association of Edmonton.
Anna is also a young adult author with HarperCollins Publishing. Her first novel will be released by HarperTeen in November 2017, with the second to follow a year later.
Anna Priemaza grew up next to a field of cows, in a town with horse-and-buggy parking at 100% of the town’s two stores. She spent her days lying in a hammock under her tree fort, devouring book after book, and her nights watching her siblings play video game after video game.
For university, she moved to a city on a lake, where she studied literature and walked to her classes with her face in a book, and was somehow miraculously never hit by a car.
For law school, she moved across the country to an even bigger city, where she learned to knit and fell in love. And she realised that being in love meant she was tied forever to that new city called Edmonton, Alberta, so she settled in and wrote a book set there. And knowing she lived in the same city as her characters Kat and Meg made her feel more at home, even though there were no cows and no lake.
So now Anna is a contemporary young adult author and a practicing family and immigration lawyer in Edmonton, Alberta, where she lives with her husband and a head full of characters. She can never quite remember how old she is, as she knits like an old lady, practices law like an adult, fangirls over YouTubers like a teen, and dreams like a child.
Anna is represented by Lauren Abramo at Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.
When will KAT AND MEG CONQUER THE WORLD be released?
November 7, 2017.
Can I pre-order KAT AND MEG CONQUER THE WORLD yet?
You sure can! Here, have some links: Amazon (US), Amazon (Canada), Indigo/Chapters, Book Depository, McNally Robinson.
Kat struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, and Meg has ADHD. Do you have personal experience with either?
Yes. I have different triggers than Kat, but I am intimately acquainted with anxiety and panic attacks.
Can I have an ARC to review?
ARCs are now available for reviewers to request on Edelweiss!
Are you available to speak at this event/do a blog interview/visit my school?
Maybe. Use my contact page to send me an email and ask.
Kat and Meg are huge fans of a YouTube gamer. Are you a fan of any YouTube gamers?
I am a long-term, sometimes-verging-on-the-edge-of-obsession fan of a group of YouTube gamers called Mindcrack. My Minecraft skin is a gender-bend of one of their skins, I own crocheted dolls of three of them, and I once dressed as one of them for Halloween. Look, if you’re going to be a fangirl, you might as well do it right.
There are many other YouTube gamers I like, but Mindcrack will always have my heart.
Can you recommend any good YouTube gaming series?
I sure can. Note that these videos may contain mature subject matter and language, and parental discretion is advised.
Ultra Hardcore (UHC) – Mindcrack
In UHC, players are scattered over a Minecraft map, starting with nothing, in a world where health doesn’t regenerate on its own. The goal: to take each other out. Last person/team standing wins.
Mindcrack, the creators of this now widely popular game, has over 20 seasons of UHC for your viewing pleasure. A few of my favourite seasons: Season 3, Season 13, Season 17
Trouble in Terrorist Town – Mindcrack
Suspense and hilarity abound as players run around various maps, trying to figure out which of their friends are traitors, so they can eliminate the traitors before their traitor friends eliminate them.
Sims 4 Challenges – Aureylian
Aureylian competes against various YouTubers to be the first to complete various challenges in Sims 4, like a race to the death against CaptainSparklez or a race to grow a cow plant against LDShadowlady.
Team Canada
Anything that Team Canada (aka VintageBeef, PauseUnpause, and Ethoslab) does together is pure comic gold. A couple of their series to get you started: Minecraft Sky Factory 2.5, Minecraft Uncharted Territory 3
What are your favourite video games to play?
Stardew Valley, League of Legends, Minecraft, Sims, and some old favourites, Heroes of Might and Magic II and Jagged Alliance I.
Why do you keep spelling favourite with a u?
I live in Canada. We like to spell things differently just to make sure you’re paying attention.
What is your Hogwarts house and Doctor/companion/hobbit/captain/Episode of choice?
Fiercely proud Hufflepuff.
Ten.
Donna.
Sam.
Picard.
V.
Are you awesome?
Yes. So are you.
Is this where I contact you to retain you as a lawyer?
No. This is my author website. If you need legal assistance, you can find me at www.mccuaig.com.
Which superstar designer created your awesome website and the artwork for it?
Morgan Messing. She’s brilliant and amazing. You can find her here: http://www.morganmessing.com/
Q & A: Young-adult Novelist Anna Priemaza
Lawyer by day, young-adult novelist by night
BY BREANNA MROCZEK
1
April 1, 2018
Anna Priemaza’s been writing fiction since 2010, but it was her set-in-Edmonton, young-adult novel, Kat and Meg Conquer the World, that landed her a two-book deal, and her publishing debut in 2017 with HarperCollins.
Q: Why set the book in Edmonton?
A: It was just natural because I live here. I moved to Edmonton in 2007 for law school, now it’s home. The first chapter starts with Kat, who’s just moved from Ontario to Alberta. I’m always struck by differences between provinces, and one I found the strangest was high school here starts in Grade 10, in Ontario it starts in Grade 9. I found it really stressful to start high school, I was really nervous about it. This idea kind of stuck in my head about a teen who had my similar problems of anxiety, who already had to go through the whole process of starting high school for the first time in Ontario, then had to go through it all again after moving to Alberta. I guess I just couldn’t get over this fact and wrote a whole book about it!
Q: Was the friendship angle intentional? You don’t see a lot of YA books with that theme.
A: You don’t! I don’t understand it. When I was in high school, my friendships were just so important to me. Even now, they still are. Probably none of [my books] will be a romance book. I find that there are so many interesting relationships between people, there are so many facets of interpersonal relationships you can explore. My first conception of this book was a friendship book. I wanted to write about two girls who were complete opposites but who had this badass friendship anyway. I don’t think I thought about how few friendship books there are until I wrote one and tried to find other books to compare it to and there just aren’t very many. Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants is sort of the classic friendship story, which I adore, so it comes out of that tradition I guess.
Q: What will your second book be about?
A: It’s a standalone. It’s set in the same world as Kat and Meg, but it’s not the same characters. Although they might make a cameo.
Q: How do you choose to engage with your fans online?
A: I’ve been learning not to look at reviews. Once you put your book out in the world, it’s not yours anymore, it’s for readers to engage with and interact with and discover and discuss as they wish. I try to stay out of that space because comments are not intended for you. When readers write comments in those spaces, they’re writing it to engage with other readers, they’re not writing for the author. I try to have a space where people can come and engage with me in a fun way, but I try not to step in readers’ spaces.
Q: What Fandoms are you a part of?
A: Doctor Who, definitely. Harry Potter of course. My newest fandom interest is a podcast called The Adventure Zone.
Q: What do you think of the new [13th, Female] Doctor?
A: I am over the moon. I cried when they announced the new doctor. I’m really happy that it’s a woman. It’s way past time. They were building to the possibility that it was going to be a woman, but I still didn’t quite believe they were going to do it. I work in a male-dominated industry in my day job as a lawyer. There are plenty of female lawyers, but women still leave the profession in pretty high numbers. At higher management levels and on the boards I sit on, there are way more men than women. Those issues are something I feel are very prevalent in my life. This just feels like such a positive step in the right direction and it makes me feel very hopeful.
Priemaza, Anna. Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Jane Van Weimokly
Voice of Youth Advocates. 40.5 (Dec. 2017): p61.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Priemaza, Anna. Kat and Meg Conquer the World. HarperTeen, November 2017. 368p. $17.99. 978-0-06-256080-3.
4Q * 4P * M * J * S
After moving from Ontario to Alberta, Canada, high school freshman Kat is paired with Meg for a science project. These two are so different: Kat has anxiety-induced panic attacks, is a planner who needs to have control, has difficulty making friends, and is most comfortable in front of a computer. Meg has ADHD, is spontaneous, and struggles with those school subjects in which she has no interest. Kat tends to be a loner, while Meg blames her ADHD for pushing people away. One thing they have in common, though, which helps them become friends, is the fact that they are both obsessed with an online video game called Legends of the Stone, or LotS, and one of its stars. They choose to do their science project on whether sugar affects reaction time, using the time speed runs in LotS to measure this. As Kat and Meg get to know each other, they become more comfortable and find they can confide and open up with each other about their self-perceived faults. It only takes one good friend, and an understanding grandfather, to help build confidence and find support.
Priemaza skillfully portrays the doubts of teens struggling with mental health issues; changed family dynamics, such as a close brother going off to college and finding other interests, or an ex-stepfather leaving the home after divorce; and the effort it takes to start and maintain a trusted friendship. Female readers will enjoy the hints of romance that appear to lie in wait for these gaming fans.--Jane Van Weimokly.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Van Weimokly, Jane. "Priemaza, Anna. Kat and Meg Conquer the World." Voice of Youth Advocates, Dec. 2017, p. 61. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522759432/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b872ee7b. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522759432
Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Lexi Walters Wright
Booklist. 114.4 (Oct. 15, 2017): p51.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Kat and Meg Conquer the World. By Anna Priemaza. Nov. 2017.368p. HarperTeen, $17.99 (9780062560803); e-book, $17.99 (9780062560834). Gr. 7-11.
No one expects off-the-wall Meg and painfully quiet Kat to ace the tenth-grade science fair as partners. "That's what makes it so epic," thinks Meg. "The girl with ADHD and the girl with panic attacks--like the hobbits setting across Mordor to Mount Doom, no one will see us coming." But that's exactly what the two intend to do, as long as Meg can focus long enough and Kat can keep from micromanaging her to death. The two form a friendship that's awesomely fun to watch unfold as they use their favorite video game as science project fodder. In order to ace the assignment, Meg and Kat must each confront who they think they are versus who they want, deep down, to be. And it's their respective vulnerability that just might lead each other to the win. Gamer gals, devotees of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl (2013), and members of John and Hank Green's nerd-fighters will find this debut novel by Priemaza satisfying in its depiction of an unlikely IRL bond between two flawed, funny, bright young women.--Lexi Walters Wright
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Wright, Lexi Walters. "Kat and Meg Conquer the World." Booklist, 15 Oct. 2017, p. 51. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A512776219/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c5325866. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A512776219
PRIEMAZA, Anna Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Leslie Vermeer
Resource Links. 23.1 (Oct. 2017): p43+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Resource Links
http://www.atcl.ca
Full Text:
PRIEMAZA, Anna
Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Harper Teen/HarperCollinsCanada, 2017. 355p. Gr. 8-10. 978-0-06256080-3. Hdbk. $17.99
[G/E]
Kat and Meg Conquer the World is a joyous, funny, endearing novel about an odd couple united by a science project and a Youtube video star. The story follows them, from alternating points of view, through their grade ten year. Kat, a transplant from Ontario, resents having to be a "freshman" again; Meg, bruised from previous relationships gone sour, is eager for a new school and a new start. As they navigate the perils of high school, boyfriends, and growing up, they learn to trust each other and themselves.
This novel surprised me: it's so fresh and engaging! The author touches on highly topical, sensitive issues such as race, mental wellness, and family stress, but lightly, without engaging in the miserablism that has overtaken so much of YA writing recently. Although privileged in different ways, Kat and Meg are not naive. They face situations involving drinking, drug use, and sexuality directly and intelligently (albeit reluctantly, in Kat's case). They talk, they think, they sometimes brood (and call each other out for brooding), but in the end they act, informed by their own good sense. I applaud the author for drawing her still-maturing characters with such a complicated mix of agency and fallibility. Many girls will find either Meg or Kat someone to identify with, empathize with, learn from.
Both girls are anxious, but the expression of their anxieties is very different. Kat is aloof and silent, trying to be invisible. Meg is outgoing, loving, and impetuous, sometimes to a fault. It took me a few chapters to warm up to Kat; initially she reads more as prickly than as anxious. But I was won over immediately by Meg's persistent friendliness and optimism, and was rooting for the girls' friendship. Though Meg believes she and Kat are BFFs from the start, for Kat the friendship emerges slowly but solidly, as in the scene when Meg takes Kat to the hospital after Kat's grandfather collapses in a grocery store. Not being a relative, Meg cannot go into the grandfather's room in the ICU with Kat, who is paralysed by fear, sadness, and guilt.
"Meg unzips her coat, revealing her favourite black cardigan with the oversized purple plastic buttons.
Out of nowhere, she grabs one of the buttons and pulls. There's a snap, and then she's pressing the button into my palm andfolding my fingers around it."
"There," she says. "Now it's like I'm with you."
Meg's apparent fearlessness teaches Kat to trust love; Kat's careful, measured friendship later reflects the lesson back to Meg. Both grow stronger for it.
I liked this novel so much! It's filled with lovely touches and good humour, and it underscores the importance of women's friendships as a source of strength and resilience. I hope to read more from Anna Priemaza.
Thematic Links: Friendship; Video Games; Learning Disabilities; Anxiety
[G] Good, even great at times, generally useful!
[E] Excellent, enduring everyone should see it!
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Vermeer, Leslie. "PRIEMAZA, Anna Kat and Meg Conquer the World." Resource Links, Oct. 2017, p. 43+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A514884128/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=80dfb707. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A514884128
Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Publishers Weekly. 264.37 (Sept. 11, 2017): p69.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Anna Priemaza. HarperTeen, $17.99 (368p)
ISBN 978-0-06-256080-3
Two tenth-grade girls become partners for a yearlong science fair project in Priemaza's engaging debut, set in Edmonton, Alberta. Each struggles with a condition that impedes her social relations: Kat's severe anxiety keeps her isolated in her new school, and Meg's ADHD makes sustaining relationships difficult. When the girls discover a shared love of LumberLegs, a gorgeous internet sensation whose millions of subscribers watch him play the video game Legends of the Stone, a friendship develops and they decide to base their project on testing the effects of sugar on reaction times in the game. Writing in alternating first-person narratives, Priemaza captures the protagonists' distinctive voices: Kat's counting-based breathing exercises ("Seven crowds ... eight socialization ...") and Meg's hyperactive interactions that generally end with the question "Why do I always end up alone?" Snippets of game chat convey the freedom from social angst the girls find in their online avatars, while compelling supporting characters including Kat's grandfather and Meg's stepfather offer affecting subplots. Genuine friendship leads to acts of great courage in this entertaining and heartwarming story. Ages 13-up. Agent: Lauren Abramo, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Kat and Meg Conquer the World." Publishers Weekly, 11 Sept. 2017, p. 69. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A505634982/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=77218f0c. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A505634982
Priemaza, Anna: KAT AND MEG CONQUER THE WORLD
Kirkus Reviews. (Sept. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Priemaza, Anna KAT AND MEG CONQUER THE WORLD HarperTeen (Children's Fiction) $17.99 11, 7 ISBN: 978-0-06-256080-3
Two girls form an unlikely friendship due to their love of a popular MMORPG. White teen Kat and her family have relocated from Ontario to Alberta to be closer to her ailing grandfather. But Kat has more to deal with than the regular new-girl awkwardness--she has panic disorder. Socializing is difficult, but Kat finds a haven in Legends of the Stone, a popular game not unlike World of Warcraft. In LotS, she can safely build her own underwater castle and interact with strangers without fear. Enter Meg: a black teen with ADHD who becomes Kat's science-project partner. Meg is the opposite of Kat; she's boisterous, impulsive, and extroverted. Luckily, Meg is a huge fan of LotS too, and though she watches the action rather than taking part, she's enamored with a famous YouTube streamer called LumberLegs, cementing the girls' bond. Over the months before their deadline, the girls learn each other's struggles and act as mutual support as they face myriad challenges: Meg feels abandoned by her stepfather and worries she's unlovable, while Kat grapples with her intense fear of putting herself out in the world. In a sea of romances and adventure stories, Kat and Meg's relationship adds a much-needed portrait of the importance of female friendship in an overstimulating, modern world. A heartwarming, realistically drawn story of friendship for fans of Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl. (Fiction. 13-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Priemaza, Anna: KAT AND MEG CONQUER THE WORLD." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502192110/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=37386ad9. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A502192110
Priemaza, Anna. Kat and Meg Conquer the World
Betsy Fraser
School Library Journal. 63.10 (Oct. 2017): p113.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
PRIEMAZA, Anna. Kat and Meg Conquer the World. 368p. HarperCollins/I JaiperTeen. Nov. 2017. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780062560803.
Gr 9 Up--Kat spends all of her spare time-immersed in her favorite online game, Legends of the Stone, and when she isn't playing, she is watching videos posted by LumberLegs, a LOtS player with millions of followers. The game serves as a distraction for her when she and her family move from Ottawa to Edmonton, Alberta, and she finds herself starting over in high school again. On Kat's first day of classes, she ends up partnered with Meg for a science project. Meg is also a fan of LumberLegs' videos, although she doesn't play the game. It is this fascination with the game and LumberLegs himself that allows the girls to interact, find a topic for their project, and resolve their deeper issues. The story is told in a dual narrative identified by their names, which can be helpful because their voices are very similar. Kat has panic attacks and can hardly bring herself to speak to anyone, while Meg has ADHD and a stepfather who abandoned her. Meg's decision to have sex for the first time with her boyfriend as a way to fix their relationship backfires, doing harm not only to that relationship but also the one with Kat. Kat has a slowly developing friendship with an online gamer named Sythlight, with whom at first she can't even bring herself to "VoiceChat." Some of the details on the Canadian setting feel overdone and exaggerated. VERDICT This is a novel with mature situations that will fit into collections with contemporary teen fiction.--Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Fraser, Betsy. "Priemaza, Anna. Kat and Meg Conquer the World." School Library Journal, Oct. 2017, p. 113. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A507950838/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b2aee27f. Accessed 15 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A507950838
Kat and Meg Conquer the World
by Anna Priemaza
Reviewer: Trilby Kent
Publisher: HarperTeen
DETAILS
Price: $21.99
Page Count: 368 pp
Format: Cloth
ISBN: 978-0-06256-080-3
Released: Nov.
Issue Date: December 2017
Categories: Children and YA Fiction
Age Range: 13+
Anna Priemaza makes her YA debut with a thoroughly readable story involving mental illness that’s neither preachy nor despairing. Kat’s anxiety makes it painfully difficult to connect with new people, while Meg’s ADHD has alienated her. Brought together by a year-long science project, Kat and Meg bond through a shared love of an online gaming star whose YouTube videos provide them with an escape from the challenges of Grade 10. What follows is a frothy but heartfelt tribute to fandom and female friendship.
Told in alternating first-person chapters, the novel explores Meg’s feelings of rejection (she’s angry that her stepdad, who helped raise her, didn’t seek custody when he and her mom divorced), and Kat’s trials as a hyper-anxious new kid at school. The development of their friendship is skilfully rendered: growing from awkwardness and curiosity into giddy camaraderie, punctuated by spikes of occasional misunderstanding – and underlined by fierce loyalty.
Priemaza’s humorous tone keeps things light. Describing her move from Toronto to Edmonton, Kat explains, “I’m a freshman again because Alberta and Ontario hate each other. … ‘High school should start in grade nine,’ says Ontario. ‘No way, loser, it should start in grade ten,’ says Alberta – for no reason other than to be spiteful.”
The girls’ friendship is tested and enhanced by secondary relationships: Kat tentatively flirts with another online gamer while Meg, who’s not a gamer herself, struggles to hold on to a real-life boyfriend. Both girls also form a touching connection with Kat’s grandfather, who imparts nuggets of wisdom with twinkle-eyed snark.
Meg’s ADHD occasionally seems caricatured. And at times the main characters present as younger than 16 – perhaps to better suit a middle-school audience. Also, the ending strains credibility. But this shouldn’t detract from the fact that Kat and Meg Conquer the World does the important work of inspiring young readers to consider life in another’s shoes, while reassuring many more that they are not alone.