THE GOOD WAR

In this gaming-themed novel, Robbie Daymond deftly narrates the authentic-sounding middle-school dialogue. Teams in Caleb's school's new e-sports club compete in a WWII RPG called The Good War. Unversed in WWII history, students develop their own assumptions about the war. When the Axis team starts identifying with their gaming characters, German Wehrmacht soldiers, light middle-school banter takes a more serious tone. Daymond is particularly chilling as Caleb's father explains Nazism to him. Online radicalization, misinformation, and bullying surface subtly in the actions and words of the main characters--"Extra-credit Caleb," shy Emma, bully Crosby, mean girl Mackenzie, scheming Nathan, and quiet Gavin. Listeners hear angry, chanting adults, and the mood is frightening when Crosby accidentally lands in the middle of a protest confrontation. Timely and urgent. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2021]