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A review by pagesofpins
Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II by Adam Gidwitz
5.0
This would make a fantastic middle school read aloud. Gidwitz touches on many players and incidents of the World War 2 era, some that will hopefully be familiar to students (kindertransport, Kristallnacht, propaganda, Winston Churchill) and some that probably won't (bullying of Jewish refugees in Britain, the Montagu family, Ian Fleming, Charles Cholmondeley, fear of communism, The Blitz). There's also a great deal of world culture in here, including British customs and language and Jewish folklore and practices.
The kobold and dybbuk bring humor, and the spies bring action and intrigue.
There are some great opportunities for critical thinking and discussion. Max is repeatedly accused of being a Nazi or German enemy by British people who hate Jewish Londoners, preach racial superiority and don't grasp the irony. He also finds out that Britain has its own history of colonization/propaganda/war while claiming to be the good guys.
If I had known this was a duology, I might have held off. Now I have to wait, ugh.
The kobold and dybbuk bring humor, and the spies bring action and intrigue.
There are some great opportunities for critical thinking and discussion. Max is repeatedly accused of being a Nazi or German enemy by British people who hate Jewish Londoners, preach racial superiority and don't grasp the irony. He also finds out that Britain has its own history of colonization/propaganda/war while claiming to be the good guys.
If I had known this was a duology, I might have held off. Now I have to wait, ugh.