with a twist: GTA 5 has not one but three main characters, each with his own history and goals. Michael's a retired bank robber, bored out of his mind in a Vinewood mansion where his wife flirts with the tennis coach and the kids play video games and hang out with sleazebags. Franklin's more sympathetic - a young black man with a gangster-wannabe best friend and an appetite to learn. Trevor, who we meet later, is a certifiable bad guy who kills people for no reason and is tougher to like.

Things start off interesting as Rockstar plays it fairly straight, dragging Michael out of retirement with wit and a few good set-pieces as Franklin falls into step alongside him, before they plan a heist together and Trevor comesmiddle-aged woman with bleach blonde hair, a love for the Cardinals (the baseball team–not the bird), and a fake bake that would have shamed any native Floridian. Her name was Merri Warren, and she was a past president of the Michigan Reading Association (MRA). Because of her MRA association, I was recruited during the semester to work at the annual conference as a student volunteer. Even now, I can recall the impressive scope and scale of the conference with flocks of teachers converging around the registration area. I was electrified by their chatter of books and speakers and ideas and possibilities. Their anticipation was intoxicating as I eavesdropped on folks waiting for badges and bags. Never before had I been among so many whose love for books paralleled