"Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents' rules-even if it means sacrificing her dreams. When her parents go abroad to Bangladesh for four weeks, Karina expects some peace and quiet. Instead, one simple lie unravels everything: Karina is my girlfriend. Tutoring the school's resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him? Out of the question. But Ace Clyde does...

A virtual reality game freezes time in New York City and thrusts twelve-year-old Ahmad Mirza and his classmate, Winnie, into the game world of Paheli, where they must overcome the Mastermind and the Architect.