That Mad Game

July 15, 2012
Seventeen wrenching accounts, most previously unpublished and either personal or based on interviews, from witnesses who as children or teenagers were caught up in wars or internecine violence. From Marnie Mueller, born of non-Japanese parents in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II, to three pseudonymous young refugees belonging to the savagely persecuted Chin minority who fled Burma in the mid-2000s, the subjects of these essays range widely in age and background. They have in common inner wounds that persist long after outer ones have healed or, at least, scarred over. Except for Fito Avitia, a resident of Juarez, Mexico, determined to stay put despite his city's wild tides of crime and violence, displacement runs as a common thread through these narratives. It takes the form of either physical exile or, in the case of Phillip Cole Manor, who writes of his tour in Vietnam and Jerry Mathes' portrait of his father, who came back from that war with PTSD, profound damage to senses of place and self. Explicit descriptions of atrocities make disturbing reading in some entries, though all are, in the end, uplifting tales of survival that offer a mix of (as the editor puts it) "loss, anger, fear, heartbreak and forgiveness." A romantic encounter between a Serb and a Croat, and a Kabul youth's memories of repeated encounters with a smitten "Talib in Love" even add lighter notes. War's most vulnerable victims, stepping up to have their say. (introductory and biographical notes) (Nonfiction. 16 & up)

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September 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-These essays, all documenting the effects of war on young people, are not for the faint of heart, but mature readers will be rewarded by a compelling and often uplifting anthology. And while these accounts of survival all share a common thread of finding a place in displacement, That Mad Game surprises with its variety. In the remarkable "Across the River," Nikolina Kulidzan describes a chance encounter during a visit to her hometown of Mostar, Bosnia. In lovely prose, she shows that contentment, however fleeting, can be found in the former Yugoslavia. Contrast this with the stark "Hand-Me-Down War Stories," in which Jerry Mathes recounts in harsh detail the ways Vietnam shaped his father: "He became intimate with suffering." His use of reverse chronological order effectively illustrates his dawning realization of the many ways in which his father's PTSD affected his family. The diversity seen in these two stories runs through the collection as a whole, and when coupled with the short length of most of the selections, the weighty subject matter is easier to digest. From Taliban-controlled Kabul to a Japanese internment camp in northern California, from a teen girl's "soundtrack of war" in Beirut to a young man's long walk across much of Africa, the startling stories make for rough going at times. But the humor, beauty, and humanity shining through the darkness are what make this collection a must-have for all libraries serving high school students.-Sam Bloom, Groesbeck Branch Library, Cincinnati, OH

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