Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein: Based on a True Story

My 10 yr old son, who is fascinated by history, said this book was "brilliant". He whizzed through it, couldn't put it down.

My 6th grade son read this book for school. He need to pick a book within the genre of historical fiction. Given this book has video game and soccer references it appeared to be a good choice. He really enjoyed it. I read it after him and I have to say it is very well written. It provides a first hand account from a child's perspective of how war has affected people to some extent. It lightly touches on religious differences, politics, the devastation of war, cultural differences, and more. I highly recommend this book.

This quick read reels you in immediately, holding your attention until the last page. Fascinating, up-close viewpoint from a child’s eyes about a time period the target audience would have no recollection about...because they weren’t born yet. Lots to think about and discuss. The simplistic language, perhaps because it was co-written by a non-native English speaker, sometimes distracted me. Perhaps that is a good thing, though, because it reminded me of the narrator and his backstory.

My 11-year old and I read this story together, and he found it entertaining and captivating. We enjoyed learning more about a small part of Iraq’s history through Ali’s eyes.

The story is so good. It’s nice to look at the world from someone else’s view.