Review by Toke Adejoye
Rosdale Press, October 15, 2022
170 pages, Paperback, $15.95 CAD, 978-1-55380-683-7
Ages 9-12, Middle-grade
Historical Fiction, Fantasy
“Gunner Nugent,” Captain Bidwell said with a sigh and a shake of his head. “I know that out here on the airfields we aren’t always as stringent about regulations as we might be, but all of us, including you Canadians, WILL SALUTE A SUPERIOR OFFICER!”
Teddy’s right hand flashed up to his forehead. He found the captain’s tendency to speak softly one moment and yell at him the next unnerving. He guessed that was probably the intent.
Remembrance Day ceremony is tomorrow, but Teddy Nugent already has plans of his own. Instead of joining his classmates and teacher in going to the ceremony arena to listen to boring speeches, watch a procession of war veterans and sing ‘In Flanders Fields’, Teddy plans to attend the War Games competition at the Super Comics store and compete against the best players in town. In fact, he’s already cooked up a lie to tell his teacher. On his way home, a war veteran hands him a special poppy. Teddy is used to seeing veterans selling poppies everywhere in the week before Remembrance Day, so this doesn’t really surprise him. He goes to bed with this special poppy pinned to the edge of his pillowcase, fantasizing about his impending victory in tomorrow’s War Games competition.
When Teddy wakes up, he’s in No Man’s Land. His pajamas are soldier uniforms. His bedroom is now a trench. His two roommates are brothers who happen to be his great-great-grandfather and his great-great uncle who both fought in World War I. After suffering a serious injury in battle, Teddy is mysteriously transplanted to the middle of World War II as a seaman on a navy ship commandeered by none other than the man who would someday become his dad’s grandfather. His final adventure lifts him to the skies as an air gunner in Britain’s Royal Air Force, also in World War II.
Ed Butt’s characters are so distinct from one another that their voices and personalities linger in your head long after. Despite writing the book for middle-grade readers, the author doesn’t shy away from revealing the reality of war and the cost of peace. Teddy witnesses both the friendship and camaraderie formed between soldiers in a bomb-ravaged trench of WWI, and how things could turn sour quickly by a single bullet or piece of shrapnel. On the navy ship and the air force bomber plane of WWII, he witnesses the highest level of self-sacrifice when he sees brave soldiers risking their lives for their colleagues. This Game of War, written in the third-person POV, subtly hammers on the importance of remembering the sacrifices of veterans. While the book’s focus is on Canada and the World Wars, a reader need not be Canadian to grab this message. Even people who fought valiantly in lesser-known wars in other countries deserve similar respect. The fact that Teddy encounters both strangers and long-dead relatives in his strange adventure, helps the reader appreciate the fact that some of our ancestors shed their blood to create a safer and more peaceful future for us.
When I turned to the final page of the book, it was satisfying to see a changed Teddy Nugent. His character development felt earned and inevitable. This is an appealing read for fans of historical fiction and fantasy.
Toke Adejoye was born and raised in Nigeria. She currently lives in Vancouver, where she is completing her MFA at the UBC School of Creative Writing. She is the Managing Editor of PRISM International.
YOUNG ADULTING 