This book is the latest in a long series of books and articles by noted literacy, education and games scholars - James Paul Gee and Elisabeth Hayes. I found this book to be highly engaging and quite readable as they provide a wealth of real examples and poignant descriptions demonstrating how women and girls are using the popular Sims video games. It is interesting to note however, most of the emphasis is not on playing the Sims game specifically but Gee and Hayes describe instead how these innovative women are going beyond the game and leveraging the virtual communities around the game to meet their own specific interests.
As an educator myself - and a person who's not a digital native, I also see this book as providing a tremendous resource for educators looking to integrate technology in the classroom and indeed those educators who are looking to develop a broader understanding of the richer "beyond game" practices gamers are engaged in. For example, I found the chapter on writing fan fiction to be extremely relevant to the high school students I work with. Given all the hype around Twilight and all things vampire, the authors' account of vampire fan fiction is quite timely in terms of popular culture but also in terms of the digital storytelling techniques many educators are working to implement in the classroom. This chapter describes in detail the participatory writing processes embedded in these fan fiction communities. Their accounting of Alex's trajectory of writing denotes how her writing improves over time and also chronicles a common characteristic of this genre of writing - the impact of instant and iterative audience feedback uniquely present in these fan fiction communities. However, a point that I particularly enjoyed - the authors directly take on the arguments more "high-brow" critics use to disparage such activities, illustrating that fan fiction writing clearly has a place among more notable literacy genres.
Overall I see this book as providing two major overarching contributions: First, it provides a necessary discussion of the innovative gaming practices engaged in by women and girls playing the Sims. This is important to note because the gender issue is frequently only addressed in games-based discussions in conjunction with commentary on their lack of participation with this media. In addition, as the authors note, this gaming franchise has been largely neglected in the literature about gaming and as the largest selling game franchise in history, it bears exploration. Gee and Hayes go beyond the issue of gender based disparities and actually depict not only practices germane to the Sims and Sims communities, but clearly and thoughtfully identify and discuss the productivity of these practices. This dovetails with the second accomplishment of this text - a theme that's back grounded as a through thread - a provocative running commentary on the current state of education and educational reform initiatives. The authors skillfully juxtapose current education practices against those evolving in gaming communities and digital media culture highlighting what we might learn from the richly productive practices embedded in and beyond gaming.
I highly recommend this book and eagerly await their next publication!
