The story centers on a group of seventh graders at Ironville Middle School who join an afterschool video game club to play “The Good War,” a World War II simulation that divides them into Axis powers and Allies teams. What begins as a friendly competition soon spirals out of control as some students, influenced by the roles they play and online interactions, start to mimic troubling behaviors and attitudes from the past—including prejudice and radicalization. Strasser uses the gaming setting to examine how easily young people can be swept up in groupthink and how quickly lines between play and reality can blur. The novel also addresses important issues such as bullying, cyberbullying, online grooming, and hate on the internet. Overall, it poses the difficult question of how the crimes of the Nazis could have happened.

United States · 2022