For the Win by Cory Doctorow

By teen lib

In a future so close to today’s world that it is hard to see the difference, teens play massive multiplayer online role-playing games.  But not all of them are doing it because they enjoy it.  Some teens in Third World countries actually “farm gold” for their ruthless, corrupt bosses in games like Coca-Cola’s Zombie Mecha or Nintendo’s Mushroom Kingdom.  And then the bosses turn around and sell their game gold and treasure turning it into real-world currency.  Of course, it goes without saying that the teens doing the work never see a penny of the profits their labor makes. 

Into this picture steps Big Sister Nor and her Webblies.  She has a plan to bring the game worlds and real world to their knees by bringing these young people together to form a union battling in game for real world rights.  But as we all know, when money is involved, lots and lots of money, many, many people will want to maintain the status quo, maybe more than Big Sister Nor and the Webblies can handle.