Virtually Perfect

by Dan Gutman

When twelve-year-old Yip uses his father's new software to make a computer simulation of a boy his age, the creation breaks out of cyberspace into the real world and begins to complicate Yip's life

Genres: Fiction

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

The author of over 80 books in a little over a decade of writing, Dan Gutman has written on topics from computers to baseball. Beginning his freelance career as a nonfiction author dealing mostly with sports for adults and young readers, Gutman has concentrated on juvenile fiction since 1995. His most popular titles include the time-travel sports book Honus and Me and its sequels, and a clutch of baseball books, including The Green Monster from Left Field. From hopeful and very youthful presidential candidates to stunt men, nothing is off limits in Gutman's fertile imagination. As he noted on his author Web site, since writing his first novel, They Came from Centerfield, in 1994, he has been hooked on fiction. "It was fun to write, kids loved it, and I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is to take a blank page and turn it into a WORLD."

Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.

Reviews

[Hope Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book back in the day at elementary and then middle school back in the ‘old dominion’ state. My first taste at the subgenera of horror known as psychological thriller. Fairly sure if you care to look you’ll find a copy with a mustard stain on a few pages.

This book obviously is fairly tame but in today’s landscape it wouldn’t be in elementary schools. In it Vik basically is created by Yip. But soon turns hostile preferring the company of the older sister. Though it’s not explicitly said it’s implied Viktor would commit unspeakable crimes. In order to keep his identity as a computer generated person a secret. It didn’t get to that point but it was headed that way.

The lesson here is you can’t create a friend from software or a machine. Inevitably said AI or machine in an attempt to understand the human element. Could become obsessive if you manage to pull together the money or resources to even make it to that step. It’s also a metaphor for what was to come with the advent of social media. When you start tacking on feelings and the human element. It could become dangerous especially if that internet friend. Decided that they felt jealous or threatened by your in person friends.

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was virtually perfect, right up until the end.

I absolutely loved the opening with grandpa, the spfx fun and police showing up. Hilarious!

Mind blowing how relatable this one is even today with computers and virtual reality And how the world is changing and computers are taking over things. - wild.

I always find AI incredibly uncomfortable and unsettling and so this one creeped me out.

[Mackenzie Ford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Title: Virtually Perfect
Author: Dan Gutman
Illustrator: N/A
Genre: Science Fiction
Theme(s): Fiction, Science, Computers
Opening Line/ Sentence: When I opened the front door that afternoon, I didn’t immediately sense anything wrong.

Brief Book Summary:
Virtually Perfect is about a boy who just moved to a new area and attending a new school and struggling to find friends. His father creates movies and his grandfather, who also lives with him, was also a movie creator before he retired. The boy Yip uses his fathers new computer system that creates virtual characters to create himself a friend. In the beginning Yips new virtual friend Victor, was cool and he finally had a friend at school. Until Victor, decided to use the computer to morph into someone else to see if he could rob a bank and get away with it. Then Yip, realized that his new virtual friend Victor needed to be stopped.

Professional Recommendation/ Review #1:
Shelley Townsend-Hudson (Booklist, June 1 & 15, 1998 (Vol. 94, No. 19 & 20))
Despite the gimmicky plot--a seventh-grader creates a virtual teen who starts out as a friend but later plots to assassinate the president--fans of cyberspace fiction will enjoy this. Yip Turner, whose father is a computer special effects expert for the movie industry, is intrigued by his dad's software, which is capable of creating "virtual actors." Using the software's drawing tools, Yip fashions his own creation, Victor, downloading an impressive list of books to give his virtual teen superior intelligence. With a few clicks of the mouse, he also gives Victor great looks, athletic prowess, and a terrific sense of humor. When Victor is miraculously pulled out of the computer in three-dimensional splendor, the adventures begin. Unfortunately, Yip soon discovers that his perfect creation has no conscience. The characters are slight, and there's not much depth, but the story will still entice computer-savvy readers. Category: Middle Readers. 1998, Hyperion, $13.95 and $14.49. Gr. 4-6.

Professional Recommendation/ Review #2:
Joyce Rice (Children's Literature)
A Vactor is a virtual person created on a computer to look and act like a real person. This is just too interesting for young Yip to ignore. Yip has a heritage of involvement with computers and special effects. His grandfather spent his life on the set of movie studios, creating stunts with special effects and props. Yip's father now does the same thing for movies, but he uses a computer instead of props. Yip's world of school and home is not very exciting compared to this. To add to the misery, Yip doesn't have many friends to share his time or his interests. When Yip's dad brings home a software program that is able to create a person, Yip chooses to make his own best friend. Life around the Harrison house gets intense when the newly created Victor the Vactor decides to become a bigger part of Yip's life than he had planned. This is a great story for boys and girls in this age group. 1999, Hyperion, $4.99. Ages 8 to 12.

Response to Two Professional Reviews:
Looking at both professional reviews they both tend to be summaries of what this book was about. I disagree with the second professional review about this book being a great book because I don’t think book has much to offer. I agree with the professional reviews that this may be a good book to refer to students that are vey computer savvy because then this book may interest those students.

Evaluation of Literary Elements:
This book had a plot about a boy creating a virtual friend on a computer come to life and then realizes that it may not have been the best idea. The plot of this book to me did not seem like a plot that was interesting and capturing the readers attention to want to figure out what is going to happen next. Personally, I do not think this book had a motif or lesson for their readers other than they never know what might happen through the computer. The author did create this book in a way that children in this age group can connect with the idea of technology and gaming systems.

Consideration to Instructional Application:
An instructional application for this book could be used with the idea in the beginning of the school year to teach about computer and Internet safety. Since this book comes with a scenario that the boy did not imagine to happen this could be connected with the idea of Internet safety. Also this book may be an option for a student that is not interested in reading but really enjoys video games because than they may be able to connect with this book so this book can be recommended to the student from a peer or a teacher. By having this book recommended to a specific student that may encourage his reading participation and have a better attitude about reading.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

It may be one of Gutman's most innovative entries yet, and it does have its typical charms and senses of humor, but VIRTUALLY PERFECT only gets derailed from perfection due to lots of first-day jitters for being one of Gutman's first primetime sci-fi novels.

[Andrew K]

I thought this was a ok book.I would recommend this book for sombody who likes to tell jokes and stuff like that.