The Good War

By: Todd Strasser

Narrated by: Robbie Daymond

A middle school must-read that exposes the antisemitism in our country today!

From the author of The Wave comes a poignant and timely novel about a group of seventh graders who are brought together—and then torn apart—by an afterschool club that plays a video game based on WW2.

There's a new afterschool club at Ironville Middle School.

Ms. Peterson is starting a video game club where the students will playing The Good War, a new game based on World War II.

They are divided into two teams: Axis and Allies, and they will be simulating a war they know nothing about yet. Only one team will win. But what starts out as friendly competition, takes an unexpected turn for the worst when an one player takes the game too far.

Can an afterschool club change the way the students see eachother...and how they see the world?


"By using a gaming lens to explore the students’ entrée to prejudice and radicalization, he succeeds in lending immediacy and accessibility to his cautionary tale."—Kirkus Reviews

Critic reviews

"By using a gaming lens to explore the students’ entrée to prejudice and radicalization, he succeeds in lending immediacy and accessibility to his cautionary tale." —Kirkus Reviews

“A quick read and a thought-provoking reflection of the underbelly of our times.” —The Horn Book