Jerry Changed the Game!: How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever
Guides by Deb – Keeping your books in the hearts of young readers and in the hands of those who care for them.
Jerry Changed the Game!: How Engineer Jerry Lawson Revolutionized Video Games Forever
Written by Don Tate
Illustrated by Cherise Harris
Published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
ISBN-13: 978-1665919081
Synopsis: Meet Jerry Lawson, the Black engineer who revolutionized the video game industry, in this engaging picture book biography perfect for fans of Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions and Little Legends: Exceptional Men in Black History.
Before Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch, there was a tinkerer named Jerry Lawson. As a boy, Jerry loved playing with springs, sprockets, and gadget-y things. When he grew up, Jerry became an engineer—a professional tinkerer—and in the 1970s, he turned his technical know-how to video games.
Back then, if players wanted a new video game, they had to buy an entire new console, making gaming very expensive. Jerry was determined to fix this problem, and despite roadblocks along the way and having to repeat a level or two, it was never game over for his mission. Eventually, he leveled up and built a brand-new kind of video game console: one that allowed players to switch out cartridges! He also founded Video Soft, Inc., the first African American–owned video game company in the country.
Jerry’s tinkering and inventions changed the video gaming world forever. Today, gamers have access to hundreds of video games at the push of a button, all thanks to him. Game on!
