Video games and novelistic experimentation in children’s literature The example of U4

The four young adult novels in the U4 series by Yves Grevet, Florence Hinckel, Carol Trébor, and Vincent Villeminot tell the same story, adopting the point of view of the four heroes, who are all experts on the same video game: Warriors of Time. The novelistic device makes it possible to exploit the relationship between player and avatar in order to build the relationship between reader and character. The tetralogy also explores the possibilities video games provide to reinvigorate novelistic temporality.