Gods of the Garden - The Garden Series, #1

The perfect project to help her win. A maddening moral crisis. Will she choose what's right even if it means losing it all? Lucy Fernández must succeed. The whip-smart, straight-A student is driven to fulfill her parents' expectations and earn her way into MIT. So when her nerdy but brilliant neighbor Ian offers to team up for a prestigious STEM contest that could guarantee her admission, she gladly accepts.  Despite Ian's outcast status, Lucy knows his VR program is the key to winning the competition.
Inside his hyper-realistic virtual world, the two teens get to call the shots, manipulating the simulation and its inhabitants as they please. Everything is going as planned as the tournament nears. But when Lucy realizes the digital humans might be sentient, she questions their god-like behavior.  With her future dreams within reach, will Lucy risk it all to save the world she's come to love? Featuring richly imaginative settings, a science-fiction twist, and big-hearted moments, Robin Strong's YA coming-of-age story speaks to the modern teens' struggle to find themselves amidst the fury of external expectations.  Gods of the Garden is the thought-provoking first book of The Garden series.
It is the ideal book for anyone who prefers compassion and curiosity over rigid obedience. ? Includes: Book Club Discussion Guide