Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein by Jennifer Roy and Ali Fadhil - ESSENTIAL

Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein by Jennifer Roy and Ali Fadhil, 165 pages.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. $17.  

Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

Ali enjoys living in Iran with his three siblings and educated parents.  When the ruler of Iran, Sadam Hussein, invades Kuwait, he begins a war with America and Ali finds his life changing.  Ali’s father is a dentist, but is a medic for the war, so Ali and his brothers have to help their mother while their father is away.  As the war escalates, Ali sees his country changing and feels bitter that Hussein is bringing war down on his country.  

I loved this book that is based on a true story.  I was a teen when the Persian Gulf War started in 1991, so it was interesting to read about how a teenage boy felt about the war in his country of Iran.  I think this book does an excellent job showing how a person can get caught in a war, even though they may disagree with their political leaders.  The violence is Ali that witnesses a firing squad. The epilogue of this book refers to the trial of Hussein which was also interesting.  

C. Peterson