Farnsworth Chronicles, The

Farnsworth Chronicles--Book 1 is the first book in a series about Nicolas James (NJ) Farnsworth. He was born into a large, single-parent family in a big American city, in which money is scarce. When he starts middle school, the principal issues all the students in the special needs class a laptop computer to help them with their schoolwork and homework. However, when NJ gets home and. turns on his computer, he meets an artificial intelligence (AI) program by the name of Rhineheart, who introduces hi to a virtual reality computer world which sends him on adventures that test his decision-making and interpersonal skills, and tests his patience more than ever before. Once inside the game, NJ finds he can walk, run, and play like other children, but in each level of the game, he must exchange his disability for another--which one is not his choice. The people he meets and the skills he learns are beyond anything he could have ever done in his wheelchair and they make it so he will never be the same person again, once he returns to his true life and his real wheelchair. But will he find he enjoys his alternate life more than his real life? And who is this old man named Rhineheart who seems to know everything about NJ before he even enters the game the first time? Is there danger? Or is there a more exciting life inside the virtual reality world?