War Games

A few years ago I was on a total self-imposed vacation from reading World War II books. It's not that I didn't care about the war or the Holocaust, but I felt like there were so many books being published that focused on that, that I just didn't want to read anymore for a while. Well, I am totally over the phase of not wanting to read books about World War II (and have been for quite a while), which has allowed me the opportunity to read a lot of great World War II books with a variety of intriguing and unique settings that are very different from the Holocaust books I grew up with.

War Games by Audrey Couloumbis and Akila Couloumbis is a book that is based on the childhood of Akila Couloumbis. He was born in New York, but he and his family moved back to their homeland of Greece during the Depression. After saving their money the family hoped to return to the US, but with the war going on, they were worried about travelling in a boat that might be sunk. When German soldiers invaded Greece because of their need to take control of the Gulf of Suez, the Couloumbis family had to be especially careful - knowing how to speak English put them at a greater risk of being harmed.

While War Games is a novel, it is based on Akila's childhood. Petros, the main character of this novel is based on Akila. While the war may seem like a game at first, full of adventure, it becomes more obvious how very serious and deadly the Germans' presence is. A German commander moves in with Petros' family and they are forced to keep their English skills a secret while providing the enemy food and shelter. Reading about the way that Petros and his family managed to hide their valuables - possessions and people- is such an interesting story.

I loved that War Games is based on a true life story, and I loved gaining yet another perspective to World War II, and the way this war affected Greece, showing how World War II affected the entire world.