The Good War by Todd Strasser (English) Paperback Book

Author Biography

In his past life, Todd Strasser has been a street musician, composer, reporter, and a fortune-cookie mogul. Now an author of books for teens and middle-graders, he has written more than 140 books, including the bestselling Help! I'm Trapped In series, The Wave, Give a Boy a Gun, and Can't Get There from Here.

Review

"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

Review Quote

"By using a gaming lens to explore the students' entr

Excerpt from Book

The morning bell rang. Goofy Foot, aka Zach Cook, dodged through the mob funneling into Ironville Middle School. Wearing a backpack and carrying a skateboard, he weaved and sidestepped through the crowd. When he accidentally bumped into a girl with long black hair, she snapped, "Watch where you''re going." Other kids gave him dirty looks as he squeezed past them. But they were the bad guys. In Goofy Foot''s mind, he was in the video game called The Good War, and the entire school was enemy territory. After stashing his skateboard in his locker, Goofy Foot enters the pissorium and is greeted by the harsh odor of bodily waste. He ducks into a stall for shelter before the next bell. Goofy Foot does not want to risk being ambushed at a urinal by the bad guys. The boys'' room door opened with a creak, accompanied by the voices of Gavin Morgenstern and Ratface Fugard. In the stall, Zach held his breath. Ratface, whose real name was Crosby, picked on Zach every chance he got. Zach knew that if Ratface caught him in the pissorium, he''d be dead meat. Goofy Foot hunkers down inside the stall. Through the sliver between the stall door and doorstop, he spies on the enemy''s activities. "I heard Robbie''s parents moved to Franklin so he can play on their football team," Ratface said, standing in front of the mirror and raking his fingers through his dark hair. His long nose reminded Zach of a rat. "Yeah," Gavin said at a urinal. "Wish my mom could do that," Ratface said. "It totally sucks that Ironville canceled football. Imagine if we could all move to Franklin and play?" "It''s a big school," said Gavin, who had red hair and freck-les. "Think you could make the team?" "Hey, I may not be big, but I''m fast," said Ratface. Hidden in the stall, Zach wondered about that. Ratface might have been fast, but he was small. Smaller even than Zach. There were plenty of bigger kids who were just as fast. Gavin, on the other hand, was the biggest kid in the grade. He reminded Zach of Duke Nukem. You wouldn''t think a kid that brawny could be quick and agile, but when they played flag football or basket

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