In Alan Gratz’s new middle-grade novel, Evie Harris is a thirteen-year-old gymnast who has fulfilled her dreams. At least that appears to be true when she travels to Berlin in 1936, having been chosen to compete on the US Olympic Team. Evie’s family were refugees from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl, the environmental disaster that sent thousands of people like them fleeing to California for safety and economic opportunities. Yet the Harris family has struggled. Only Evie’s potential athletic success might offer them a chance at security. When Evie learns that Nazi Germany is a place where surfaces do not reflect reality, she is forced to make difficult choices.
An unlikely scheme to engage in a crime motivated by desperation puts Evie in contact with a diverse cast of characters, both fictional and historical. Black Olympic runner Jesse Owens, his Jewish teammates Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, and Leni Riefenstahl, the film director who produced Nazi propaganda, all play a role. The fictional characters represent Gratz’s commendable goal of revealing the racism, antisemitism, and homophobia that corrupted German society. At times Evie’s consciousness of these issues, and her unquestioning opposition to any prejudice, seem more rooted in contemporary understanding than in the realities of the book’s time period. At the same time, War Games offers young readers, parents, and educators, an opportunity to explore and discuss history through the lens of the compromised Olympic Games. Each of Evie’s friendships involves someone whose identity is inherently dangerous: a young Jewish man of mixed heritage posing as an “Aryan,” a biracial woman who has suffered a terrible consequence for her background, a gay athlete who no longer has the freedom to be relatively open about his sexuality. Evie also finds a supportive friendship with an Olympic equestrian who is also a Hollywood star. While her interactions with all of them are personal, they also represent different categories of oppression. In one of the most successful developments of character and plot in the novel, Evie’s almost worshipful attitude towards Riefenstahl gradually turns to disillusionment, and causes her to question her own ethical choices.
A riveting plot propels the novel forward, as Evie balances the consequences of her athletic performance, her loyalty to family, and her participation in a multifaceted plot full of risk. While initially it seems to involve material gain, it eventually broadens to encompass questions of justice, and resistance to oppression.
Gratz encourages readers to think about the torturous decisions forced upon those living under authoritarian regimes. War Games might be set in the past, but, unfortunately, the dilemma it portrays is still relevant. The book includes a detailed author’s note with historical background.
Emily Schneider writes about literature, feminism, and culture for Tablet, The Forward, The Horn Book, and other publications, and writes about children’s books on her blog. She has a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures.
