Cover Image: The Button War

The Button War

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Member Reviews

I have read a lot about the Second World War, but very little about the First and it was a pleasure (and I was left with a broken heart) to meet Patryk. This is a very hard middle grade book, which breaks you in the reading process and contextualizes you (as far as possible) in what happened in one of the worst conflicts in our history.

If you liked The boy with the striped pajamas, you will enjoy this book.

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I really liked the concept of this story termed as a middle grade historical fiction book set in Poland during WWI. I really liked the scenes in which the war comes to the town and the bombs start to change everything. However, I found it very difficult to like the characters. Patryk is not a strong character and the his friends all blindly follow Jurek's rules rather than safeguarding their lives. I admit he is the villain in the story, but he is written in such a black and white manner that I did not even find him as a competent villain. Even though I really enjoyed the author's style of writing, I found it difficult to like this book only because of the characters.

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The Button War
by Avi

When I got this book from NetGalley, I considered it a Middle Grade novel, as the protagonists are twelve years old. But, while I usually consider a twelve-year-old today so much “older” than their counterparts in the early part of the twentieth century, history has forced maturity on Patryk and his friends in this story, with a hometown that has been repeatedly occupied by malevolent strangers. The Great War has turned their town into a contentious place, and the boys’ games have begun to change too, from innocent fun to grave tests of daring. My teenagers have not read this book yet, but I can imagine that it will inspire in them the same chills I felt, the kind that accompany an overwhelming sense of dread and foreboding. This is a difficult, disturbing story, but an important addition to the historical fiction of World War I.



For Goodreads:

Why I picked it — Because I love Avi’s writing.
Reminded me of… We Were Liars
For my full review — click here

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A stark, realistic depiction of life during war. A story from a perspective not often featured in children's literature. Definitely not for the faint of spirit.

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Avi is the master of historical fiction. The Button War is a heartbreaking story of war, as told through the view of a child. The story takes place in Poland during WWII and is told by a Polish boy, Patryck while the Russian occupation of their village turns to German.

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Thank ;you to Candlewick Press, the author Avi, and Netgalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for my candid review.

This book is very similar to the book, The Boy in the Pajamas in that the reader knows from the beginning that something bad is going to happen. The reader just doesn't know what that bad thing is.

It is a somewhat predictable book in that the reader knows who the bad guy is going to be from the beginning. As bad choices yield bad results, the reader wants to tell the boys to make better decisions and to not be a follower, but it is to no avail

I will give this book a 3 of 5 due to its formulaic story and the lack of any real empathetic development with the characters.

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The Button War centres around a group of boys in a small, unnamed village in Poland during World War One that is fought over by a revolving-door of equally-horrible German and Russian soldiers. Nearly everyone knows the realities of what followed - the continuously horrific treatment of villages across the breadth of Eastern Europe, by whomever deigned to invade them for the next fifty or so years. Looking from the outside, the reader knows the utterly horrendous future realities of townships just like this one.
The boys a little less so.
Alongside the fact that they are flanderised to an extent that I haven’t seen outside of later episodes of The Simpsons (trust me, it’s that bad), the boys are worryingly apathetic, caring little for the increasingly horrific events going on around them and instead, focussing solely on the acquisition of buttons from soldiers’ uniforms.
The juxtaposition between the innocent childhood game of dares and the fact that the world around them is delving into the horrors of war, therefore only succeeds to a certain extent. Because, instead of it working to emphasise the level of depravity taking place and the ensuing loss of childhood innocence (blah blah blah etc etc etc) (I am attempting, and failing, to write my own book focussing on the same themes and the tiredness of it bores even me), it just made the boys come off as wilfully and purposefully ignorant.
I wanted to shake them.
They were twelve, for God’s sake, old enough to know that risking your life to one-up someone isn’t worth it. And certainly old enough to know that, because of the war going on around them, maybe it was time to put games aside and concentrate on what really matters.
People were dying - their friends, neighbours, family members. People they had known their entire lives. And yet, all they could say was, “oo I bet that I can steal a shinier button than you”.
I mean, really, dude? Twelve, my arse, they sound about seven.

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I don't even know how to start, the book was eery in that evil child cult kind of way. The group leader seemed unhinged and bent on being the best and when the end came around I was REALLY creeped out. These kids start a contest on who can get the best buttons and while it seemed harmless at first it quickly escalated. Kids get beat and shot and even then they continue the contest. I loved the plot and while I was a little confused at the ending I did find it satisfying. The book's setting is interesting, these kids live in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere and they get caught in the crossfire as the war breaks out. I think the book was written excellently and the dialogue was great. The book was thoroughly entertaining and I will definitely be checking out Avi's other works in the future.
Rating: 4 stars
FTC DISCLAIMER: I received this book in exchange for an honest review

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A little slow, some description could be improved, but chilling and a bit upsetting. I likely would've skipped it at a middle school age.

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3.5 This story conveyed the harsh realities of war in a small occupied Polish village in WWI. Though I am not a fan of bullies and war’s collateral damage, it was well-written. I am still a fan of Avi’s.

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The Button War is good but not especially memorable. It is a wartime tale of young boys in a small Polish village, torn between German and Russian soldiers. While there is good historical context, I feel that the characters could have been more fully developed. However it does get some extra pluses for being about World War I as not too many historical fiction books are set in that time period.

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I haven't read a book by Avi in 20 years. Revisiting an author that inspired a long and wonderful love affair with reading was nothing short of exhilarating. The Button War, exactly as it sounds - a war amongst boys in war torn Poland to see who can get the best button from soldiers passing through - is not exactly the genre I usually go for and still I found it charming and well written. You get annoyed with each of the boys and their silly (and stupid) antics as a war literally explodes around them just like you would with boys in real life. And Avi doesn't sugar coat war and that's truly the best part. It started off a little slow for me but by the end it's a devastatingly raw portrayal and I highly recommend it.

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Patryk and his friends live in a small Polish village occupied by the Russians. The Germans drop a bomb on the village, and then invade. Patryk and his friends have a dare, and the winner is the one who steals the best button from the soldiers. Determined not to let Jurek win, Patryk continues playing the game, despite the destruction and death that is occurring around them.

I thought this book left a lot to be desired. Patryk and his friends seemed more like eight year olds than the twelve years olds they were supposed to be. There was no real ending or conclusion to the book. An epilogue or something was sorely needed. Overall, a bust.

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I really wanted to like this one-I liked the World War 1 setting, I liked the premise-boys in a small village in Poland on eve of World War 1 but I found the characters to be one sided and uninteresting. They were all without any compassion for each other and lacked the sense to be concerned about their own safety. This one won't be in my library.

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This book is a war zone that assaults you with volleys of emotions. Avi once again writes a beautifully compelling novel that will forever stay with readers.

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Patryk and his friends live in a rural Polish village during WWI that's been occupied by the Russian army for some time. When Patryk finds a button from a Russian uniform, his frenemy Jurek--always bent on being the best--dares his friends to obtain buttons of their own. The boy with the best button will be “king.” The only rule: they can’t ask; they must take. Nobody particularly likes Jurek, but they can’t resist a dare, and anyway, Jurek would be insufferable as king.

Soon afterward, the Russians are driven out by the Germans, a more hostile occupying army whose soldiers are quartered in the boys’ homes. Button collection becomes more dangerous, but the boys refuse to give up their game and allow Jurek to win. Jurek himself becomes ever more obsessed with it; he’s willing to go to extreme lengths to steal the best button, even if it means putting his friends’ lives at risk.

I found this story riveting, tight and well plotted (although I saw the ending coming). It’s the type of book I’d have loved as a kid. I really liked the setting, and it was moving to see the effects of the war on Patryk and the others, especially the bombing of the schoolhouse. It’s a short novel with a group of 6 or 7 characters at its core, but each boy is distinct.

I was both repulsed and fascinated by Jurek, who shows signs of some kind of mental instability or sociopathy. I wish the narrative had provided more context re: the Russians and Germans and the way Poland was trapped between them, although Patryk’s ignorance of the political situation is believable and emphasizes the child’s POV/war experience. I would’ve appreciated an author’s note, though.

I don’t entirely buy Jurek’s power over the other kids. Patryk realizes the danger and is repeatedly warned by his father to be cautious, yet he continues to play the button game. He tries half-heartedly to put an end to it a few times, but then everyone starts back up again as soon as Jurek does. Can’t they leave Jurek? Ignore him? Go home? They’re afraid Jurek will be violent if he’s king, and it’s true that Jurek’s temper and apparent lack of empathy and remorse are shown again and again, but it still doesn’t feel like this warrants the boys’ continued participation in the button game. Jurek’s not even particularly charming; the boys aren’t really seeking his approval or favor. And it’s five against one, when it comes down to it. On the other hand, I know the games kids play feel very real and immersive to them, and perhaps they just don’t full grasp the danger or consequences of what they’re doing.

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The Button War is written by the children's author Avi, but it is quite a dark novel and would be hard for a young child to read. The Button War takes place during the beginning of World War I. AS the author and many reviews of the novel mention, it is a story of how young boys who start out as friends, can loose sight of the fun nature of a game and contest and become very competitive and threatening to each other.

Avi takes the reader back to a small town in Poland at the start of World War I. This is a town that is isolated and self sufficient. We start out with seven boys who spend their days playing and exploring together. Their town is occupied by Russian soldiers, which displeases the townspeople. One day the Russians leave and German soldiers arrive moving into some the citizens homes.

Patryk is the narrator and tells about how the boys meet up and sit on a ledge above the water pump. They are watching as their village changes with the German soldiers arriving. Jurek is the instigator, daring the others to take risks and he starts the contest to find the best button. As the boys each try to get a button from the clothing of either a Russian or German soldier, the stakes get higher and more dangerous. As the boys get caught up in the competition they mirror the fighting between the Russians and the Germans. It all seems to be fighting without clear knowledge of how to recognize the winner. The stakes get higher and people start getting hurt and dying, but then who wants to be the first to cry Uncle and admit to being scared?

Avi says he based this dark story on a tale his father-in-law shared with him from his childhood.
The collection of buttons from soldier's uniforms developed into this serious thought provoking plot though Avi's imagination. His father-in-law's interest in the buttons was much more innocent. read this book with your child and be able to have a discussion about war and how following a leader blindly can lead to serious trouble. It is a great message for our present day political climate. It is also a important lesson to learn for children in general.

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Twelve-year-old Patryk lives with his family and friends in a small Polish village when this new novel by Avi opens in August 1914. Russian soldiers occupy their village but mostly leave the villagers alone as they go about their lives. Suddenly, planes appear overhead and a bomb destroys the school, killing a child and the school master. Germans are coming and their peaceful life is disrupted in harsh ways described in stark prose through the eyes of Patryk. Even as their world falls apart, the group of boys, led by the bully Jurek, start their own war: a "button war" that challenges the boys to steal buttons from the various soldiers. The boy with the best button will be king. It seems innocent at first but like the real war around them, it escalates and Patryk finds himself unable to control events as Jurek becomes increasingly brutish.

Avi does not spare the reader from the callousness of violence and death at the beginning of World War I. The lives of the Polish villagers mean nothing to either side of the conflict. Patryk's father warns him that they are stuck between the two sides and life has become very dangerous. Avi masterfully weaves the two wars together in sometimes brutal ways. The prose moves quickly. The tension mounts from the moment that first bomb falls with little time for the reader to breathe; it is as though the reading experience mirrors the experience of the characters whose world is shattered. They face life and death decisions that must be made within moments.

I read it through in one sitting, unable to pull myself from the story. While it is appropriate for young adult readers, I would suggest that, at least for the pre-teens, parents read along and talk about some of the more violent events and images. The relationship between Patryk and Jurek also provides valuable opportunities for discussions about how we are influenced in positive and negative ways by other people and what we can do to avoid being bullied into making decisions.

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This book is much deeper than I originally anticipated. Gives a new perspective of what living in a way zone is like.

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A story of a group of frienemies in a small Polish town. What starts as a lighthearted competition about military buttons becomes dangerous and deadly as the town becomes the front line. A unique story with a bit of Lors of the Flies.

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