This novel is flawed and overhyped, but it's still much better than so many options "out there." Sam is hospitalized in the early nineties; his foot is crushed. A car accident has killed his mother. He is a little boy, and he has been almost mute for six months. A girl, Sadie, visits; her sister is confined to a bed (because of cancer). Sam and Sadie bond over video games--but Sadie neglects to mention that she is logging her visitation hours as part of a "community service" project. It's not that she sees Sam as something less than a friend. It's just childish thoughtlessness. But when the secret pops out, a rupture occurs. Amazingly, after several years, Sam and Sadie reunite; they are in the Boston area, in college. They begin to *design* video games together. But their relationship always has the stain of that original sin--Sadie's betrayal. Sadie resents Sam for claiming creative ownership that isn't entirely his. Sam resents Sadie for purs...