"Drawn from both video gaming culture and the rich tapestry of Jamaican myth and folklore, blending pointed social satire and mystical philosophy, this exuberant, original hero’s journey is a real trip . . . Exhilarating, thought-provoking and one of a kind."--Kirkus Reviews"Adult author/Wall Street Journal editor Farley’s middle-grade debut draws from Jamaican mythology and beliefs, as well as from other cultures, to weave a fast-paced, whimsical mixture of magic and action...the setting lends itself well to memorable imagery and a fun experience."--Publishers Weekly"Farley blends video gaming and Jamaican folklore in this intense, fast-paced middle-grade fantasy that is sure to quickly grab readers."--Booklist"Here (finally!) is a middle-grade action novel that showcases West Indian mythology and features protagonists of color."--School Library JournalOne of This Spring's Hottest Teen Books, Huffington Post"Farley writes in a straightforward way that is both accessible to younger readers but still interesting to adults."--Persephone Magazine"In his metaphorical world, Farley spares neither the dubious machinations of high finance nor the heartbreak of an orphan."--Center for Fiction"I highly recommend Game World for kids in 4th-12th grade. Parents can read it too and love the characters and story just as much as the kids."--The Family Coach"A mixture of fantasy, reality, Jamaican folklore, and history. A great read for all, we love it! My kids and I can relate to the themes and characters in this wonderful adventure. Finally! Thank you, C.J. Farley!”--Ziggy Marley"Fast-paced, fun, and exciting, Game World kept me--and more importantly my twelve-year-old son--turning the pages. It's a unique, refreshing breath of Caribbean-accented fantastical storytelling."--David Anthony Durham, author of the Acacia Trilogy"If William Gibson wrote The Hunger Games, it might feel something like this. Cyberpunk for a new generation of readers!"--Kazu Kibuishi, author of the best-selling Amulet series and Harry Potter cover artist"There are real children here, who blunder, quarrel, pop blisters, get pissed, suffer bullying, and fart--things almost guaranteed to freak out parents, teachers, librarians, and children's book reviewers. There are mysteries and challenges galore. In sum, there's some adult-level mind stretching here."--Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth seriesDylan Rudee's life is an epic fail. He's bullied at school and the aunt who has raised him since he was orphaned as a child just lost her job and their apartment. Dylan's one chance to help his family is the only thing he's good at: video games. The multibillion-dollar company Mee Corp. has announced a televised tournament to find the Game-Changers: the forty-four kids who are the best in the world at playing Xamaica, a role-playing fantasy game that's sweeping the planet. If Dylan can win the top prize, he just might be able to change his life.It turns out that Dylan is the greatest gamer anyone has ever seen, and his skills unlock a real-life fantasy world inside the game. Now actual monsters are trying to kill him, and he is swept up into an adventure along with his too-tall genius sister Emma, his hacker best friend Eli, and Ines Mee, the privileged daughter of Mee Corp.'s mysterious CEO and chief inventor. Along the way they encounter Nestuh, a giant spider who can spin a story but not a web; Baron Zonip, a hummingbird king who rules a wildly wealthy treetop kingdom; and an enchantress named Nanni who, with her shadow army, may be bent on conquering Xamaica and stealing its magic.In order to save his sister and his friends, Dylan must solve a dangerous mystery in three days and uncover secrets about Xamaica, his family, and himself. But will he discover his hidden powers before two worlds--Xamaica and Earth--are completely destroyed?

Game World

Children's Books

Farley, C.J.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Black Sheep

Around Harvard Square has been nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Youth/Teens)!
"A smart, satirical novel about surviving the racial and cultural tensions ratcheted up in the elite Harvard hothouse. Farley has created a marvelously engaging and diverse set of characters, at the center of which is a nerdy Jamaican American with a philosophical bent and his cohort of oddballs struggling to win a spot on Harvard's brainy humor magazine, which provides a springboard for Farley to dive into the ethics of comedy, among other subjects." --National Book Review, included in Monday's 5 Hot Books
"Around Harvard Square [is] C.J. Farley's fun novel about an exceptional Jamaican student-athlete facing class and race issues to get a spot on an elite Harvard University humor magazine." --New York Daily News, included in CaribBeat column
"C.J. Farley's Around Harvard Square is a witty and artful narrative of a society on the crossroads of change...A must read." --The Gleaner (Jamaica)
Included in the American Booksellers Association's ABC Best Books for Young Adult Readers 2019!
Included in Publishers Weekly's Spring 2019 Children's Announcements
Included in Rich in Color's Six Books to Kickstart April
"In his new novel, Around Harvard Square, Farley writes about a scandal strikingly similar to how Singer helped parents and coaches allegedly exploit athletic programs of schools like Yale, Georgetown, and USC." --Fox 5 (New York)
"This former Lampoon editor, journalist, and now satirical novelist, has lots of insight into the discrepancies around race and gender that remain present in the comedy industry." --CityLine (WCVB-TV Boston)
"Around Harvard Square brings social commentary to college life, approaching the issues in a humorous attitude...Farley makes the injustices more tangible to a younger audience who may be future students at such institutions, and he shows how little progression has been made in the educational system regarding institutional racism." --Prism Review 
"This coming-of-age novel, set in the '90s, follows Jamaican-American Tosh Livingston and his group of friends--Lao, Meera, and Zippa--on their quest to land coveted spots on the staff of the Harvard Harpoon, Harvard's humor magazine...The characters' clever dialogue challenges privileged and stereotypical thinking." --Publishers Weekly
Tosh Livingston, superstar student-athlete from small-town USA, thinks he's made it big as a rising freshman at Harvard University. Not so fast! Once on campus, he's ensnared in a frenzied competition to win a spot on Harvard's legendary humor magazine, the Harpoon. Tosh soon finds that joining the Harpoon is a weird and surprisingly dangerous pursuit. He faces off against a secret society of super-rich kids, gets schooled by a philosophy professor who loves flunking everyone, and teams up with a genius student-cartoonist with an agenda of her own. Along the way, Tosh and his band of misfit freshman friends unearth long-buried mysteries about the Ivy League that will rock the Ivory Tower and change their lives forever...if they can survive the semester.
With its whip-smart humor and fast-paced narrative, Around Harvard Square will appeal to readers of all ages interested in exploring the complicated roles that race and class play in higher education.

Around Harvard Square

Literature & Fiction

Humor & Satire

Zero O'Clock

Product Description For sixteen-year-old Geth Montego, zero o’clock begins on March 11, 2020. By June, she wonders if it will ever end."An insightful, eye-opening, and inventive story. C.J. Farley has penned a novel that sheds an important light on real issues facing young people today."--Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give"For fiction with a sense of realism, this is a coming-of-age young adult book whose title is the same as that of a 2020 song by superstar boy band BTS, 00:00 (Zero O’Clock), with vocals by Jungkook, Jimin, Jin and V. Author C.J. Farley’s novel grapples with the stresses and trauma of 2020."--South China Morning Post"Remember when New Rochelle was frantically sanitizing office buildings and rapidly shutting things down in the beginning of 2020? Well, Geth remembers, as her character dealt with being a senior in high school in the first New York town COVID raged through in Zero O’Clock by Christopher John Farley."--The Root"Geth is a likable, smart Gen Z protagonist in this modern epistolary work that combines diary entries, text messages, news reports, emails, and English lit essays to immersive effect...Farley offers readers undeniable value in this retelling of recent, unforgettable history."--Kirkus Reviews"[Farley’s] brilliance is in getting into the mind of a 16-year-old Black girl and giving her a vivid voice."--BooklistIn early March 2020 in New Rochelle, New York, teenager Geth Montego is fumbling with the present and uncertain about her future. She only has three friends: her best friend Tovah, who’s been acting weird ever since they started applying to college; Diego, who she wants to ask to prom; and the K-pop band BTS, because the group always seems to be there for her when she needs them (at least in her head).She could use some help now. Geth’s small city becomes one of the first COVID-19 containment zones in the US. As her community is upended by the virus and stirred up by the growing Black Lives Matter protests, Geth faces a choice and a question: Is she willing to risk everything to fight for her beliefs? And if so, what exactly does she believe in? C.J. Farley captures a moment in spring 2020 no teenager will ever forget. It sucks watching the world fall apart. But sometimes you have to start from zero. From School Library Journal Gr 8 Up-Sixteen-year-old Geth Montego already had her world upended when her father died three years ago in a school shooting, and now it's happening again as COVID-19 takes over America. Geth loves Broadway and BTS, has two close friends, and is eagerly awaiting her college acceptance letters, but readers will be waiting to see how 2020 unfolds for the teen and her friends. A confrontation with the cops puts Geth in the center of the Black Lives Matter movement in her community, pushing her already fraught coming-of-age story into the limelight. Geth's voice carries the novel through our unprecedented recent history as she navigates grief, anger, and her own mental illnesses of anxiety, depression, and OCD during the stay-at-home orders and rising pandemic death toll. Her narration comes at the cost of some heavy exposition, which Farley breaks up epistolary-style with news reports, texts, emails, and even school essays. This novel juggles police violence, social justice, college stress, mental illness, friendship, romance, and the pandemic. A few of those topics get dropped before the finish line, but Geth's sense of humor helps smooth things over as they relive 2020 with her. Geth is Black, her best friends are Jewish Korean and Cuban American, and her mother's boyfriend is white. VERDICT While the novel doesn't deliver on all fronts, it could find a home with collections looking for quarantine fiction right now. An additional purchase.-Emmy Neal, Lake Forest Lib., ILα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Review "Zero O’Clock captures a familiar moment

Product Description For sixteen-year-old Geth Montego, zero o’clock begins on March 11, 2020. By June, she wonders if it will ever end."An insightful, eye-opening, and inventive story. C.J. Farley has penned a novel that sheds an important light on real issues facing young people today."--Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give"Zero O'Clock is a beautiful and timely YA novel that is both heartbreaking and whip smart, a glimpse into the world of virtual friendship, classrooms, and pop stardom."--Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg, author of The Nine"Thoughtful, provocative, and pounding with the fast-paced beat of a sharp-witted adolescent mind, Zero O'Clock is the story of a Jamaican-American teen girl at the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Rochelle, New York. C.J. Farley has created an irresistible heroine in Geth Montego. Simmering with justifiable anger at everything from the cancellation of her senior prom to racial injustices and police brutality, Geth manages to overcome grief, anxiety, and confusion to discover a new sense of herself and her ability to create change."--Karen Dukess, author of The Last Book Party"Zero O'Clock seems to have a direct line into the mindset of a modern teenager. I enjoyed it immensely!"--Alex Wheatle, author of Cane WarriorsIn early March 2020 in New Rochelle, New York, teenager Geth Montego is fumbling with the present and uncertain about her future. She only has three friends: her best friend Tovah, who’s been acting weird ever since they started applying to college; Diego, who she wants to ask to prom; and the K-pop band BTS, because the group always seems to be there for her when she needs them (at least in her head).She could use some help now. Geth’s small city becomes one of the first COVID-19 containment zones in the US. As her community is upended by the virus and stirred up by the growing Black Lives Matter protests, Geth faces a choice and a question: Is she willing to risk everything to fight for her beliefs? And if so, what exactly does she believe in? C.J. Farley captures a moment in spring 2020 no teenager will ever forget. It sucks watching the world fall apart. But sometimes you have to start from zero. Review "Geth’s voice carries the novel through our unprecedented recent history as she navigates grief, anger, and her own mental illnesses of anxiety, depression, and OCD during the stay-at-home orders and rising pandemic death toll."--School Library Journal"Zero O'Clock is a beautiful and timely YA novel that is both heartbreaking and whip smart, a glimpse into the world of virtual friendship, classrooms, and pop stardom."--Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg, author of The Nine"Thoughtful, provocative, and pounding with the fast-paced beat of a sharp-witted adolescent mind, Zero O'Clock is the story of a Jamaican-American teen girl at the early epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Rochelle, New York. C.J. Farley has created an irresistible heroine in Geth Montego. Simmering with justifiable anger at everything from the cancellation of her senior prom to racial injustices and police brutality, Geth manages to overcome grief, anxiety, and confusion to discover a new sense of herself and her ability to create change."--Karen Dukess, author of The Last Book Party"Zero O'Clock seems to have a direct line into the mindset of a modern teenager. I enjoyed it immensely!"--Alex Wheatle, author of Cane WarriorsCritical praise for C.J. Farley's Around Harvard Square: 
"[A] smart, satirical novel about surviving the racial and cultural tensions ratcheted up in the elite Harvard hothouse. Farley has created a marvelously engaging and diverse set of characters, at the center of which is a nerdy Jamaican American with a philosophical bent and his cohort of oddballs struggling to win a spot on Harvard's brainy humor magazine, which provides a springboard for Farley to dive into the ethics of comedy, among other subjects." —National Book Review 
"Wry, sly, and ferociously f

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Books by Farley, C.J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Farley, C.J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Game World

Around Harvard Square

Zero O'Clock

Zero O'Clock