Crusader [Library Binding]

Edward Bloor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2009

Roberta Ritter has been waiting for a knight in shining armor for most of her humdrum life. She’s a doormat, a nobody whose mother died a few years back, a smart girl who wastes her afternoons working in a failing arcade in a failing shopping mall. And then a Crusader arrives. . . .
Only this Crusader is a virtual reality war game, one that does a booming business at the arcade, despite--or perhaps because of--the controversy over its racism and violence.
Roberta’s boring life explodes. Onetime friends become bitter enemies, strangers reveal themselves as allies, and Roberta discovers the truth about her mother’s death. In uncovering what’s real and not just virtually real, Roberta learns to stand up for herself--and, maybe, to become her own crusader.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A steamy, swampy Florida setting and the threat of a repressed memory are two of the elements in Edward Bloor's first young adult novel, Tangerine, that made it an instant suburban gothic classic. His follow-up, Crusader, delves even deeper into the dark side of suburbia, exposing racism, virtual violence, and even murder behind the sunny facade of a Florida strip mall.

Fifteen-year-old Roberta works hard every afternoon and weekend in the family business, a virtual reality arcade in the West End Mall. She keeps her mind off the fact that the arcade is slowly going under and that her father ignores her existence, but she cannot ignore the fact of her mother's brutal murder seven years ago. Roberta's quest to find her mother's killer weaves together several skillfully constructed subplots, including a shady political scheme to ruin the mall, real and imagined hate crimes against an Arab store owner, and how the Crusader itself, a virtual reality game, serves as the catalyst that ignites and unites these seemingly unrelated factors in Roberta's life. Bloor's brooding, densely plotted page turner is an incredibly original novel that will engage teens on several levels. Though it is almost 400 pages long, the nonstop action and many startling revelations will keep teens transfixed until the very last sentence. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Although the jacket and flap copy play to readers interested in virtual reality, cyber-adventure is only a very small component of this ambitious second novel from the author of the acclaimed Tangerine. Fifteen-year-old Roberta spends her time at a mall, working for her alcoholic Uncle Frank in a virtual reality arcade that features "experiences" for xenophobic violence-mongers: in the war game Crusader, for example, players kill Arab "Infidels." Everything around Roberta is skewed, from the misfits who work at the arcade for no pay (just getting to play the games is enough) to the mall, where the businesses are struggling and the management is corrupt. Home is even stranger. Her mother is dead and her father neglects her, spending all his time with the horrible Suzie, the mall manager. Roberta herself is an oddball, often mistaken for a boy and slow to emerge as a strong characterAreaders will have to be patient to see her personality take shape. The story is long and packed with subplots, veering from local politics (hate crimes and environmentalism) to teenage suicide, the inner workings of a TV studio and Roberta's quest to uncover the truth about her mother's death. A scheme to expose a dishonest politician is baroque and anticlimactic. Nonetheless, the characters are sharply drawn (racist Hawg is not an entirely bad guy; shallow teen beauty Nina helps out in a pinch), and Roberta is full of surprises. While flawed, this novel is deeper, denser and more complex than most YA fare, and serious readers will appreciate it. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 400 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439594899
• ISBN-13: 978-1439594896
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,175,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have always been a writer, for as far back as I can remember. In the mid-1990s, I sold a novel that was marketed in the young adult genre. Since then, things have gone very, very well. I am married to a beautiful teacher named Pam. We have two children--Amanda and Spencer.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "In a world without heros, you make your own.", December 1, 2002

By 

Trindajae - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crusader (Paperback)

That sentence is on the cover of the book. I cannot think of any better way to describe the plot of this absorbing story. The main character is a 15-yearl-old girl named Roberta. Roberta is frequently mistaken for a boy because she hasn't quite gotten out of puberty yet, her father is an ego-centric looser whose idea of parenting consists entirely of leaving a bag of rental videos by the door and frozen dinners in the freezer, and her only "friends" are the people who work in her family's arcade in a run-down mall on the not-so-nice side of town. The only person who seems to take an active interest in Roberta's life is Mrs. Weiss, the elderly owner of the greeting card shop across from the arcade. Mrs. Weiss is the only person who cares enough to ask if Roberta had breakfast or if she has seen her father for more than five minutes in the past couple of days. Mrs. Weiss also does her best to teach Roberta the one lesson she feels will help her the most as she tries to play the hand she has been dealt: No matter how bad life gets, you have got to survive. Never just lay down and die.

Some parts of this book are very dark and very few are extremely light-hearted, yet the overall message is an encouraging one. It's not the Disney kind of encouraging, where if you only believe long enough then all of your dreams will come true. It's the Real Life kind of encouraging. If you keep trying to succeed, life will be better than if you give up. Roberta doesn't get to live Happily Ever After, but she has hope that she will live Happily Enough.

This is possibly one of the most well-written books for young adults that I have found in a very long time. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys the more introspective styles of storytelling.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best book of all time., March 29, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Crusader (Paperback)

I'm serious. I am an avid reader, and I think this book sits right up in the ranks of Gone With the Wind and The Outsiders. Set in a steamy and perilous urban area of Florida, Crusader starts very slow (like Tangerine) and then roars to a final, shocking, and horribly ironic climax. I nearly cried when it was over, because I wanted to keep reading it all the time. The characters are sharply drawn, and you are forced to form your own opinions about them, they are not simply given to you.

Perhaps the most beautifully crafted character is Roberta Ritter, the main protagonist in the story. When you first begin, Roberta is very indifferent to the complex world around her. However, as the story moves on, you begin to see that nothing is as it appears, another characteristic of Tangerine.
The final, terrifying, shocking ending will take your breath away as Roberta confronts the demon in her life. Also: Don't be surprised if someone whom you've never suspected turns out to be a killer. You have to read this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book challenged at my school, May 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Crusader (Paperback)

This award winning novel by Edward Bloor was unsuccessfully challenged by a group of parents whose students attend my school. The parents objected to racism, violence and by the father's lack of morals.
I read the book and thought it was great. The main character was the moral center of the book. Sure, everyone was making unwise decision around her but Roberta rose to the challenge and really, set everyone straight. What an empowering book for teenagers....