I won this book through the GoodReads First Reads Program.

This isn't the sort of book that one reads for pleasure, nor is it the sort of book one could necessarily say they enjoyed reading. [b:That Mad Game|5675224|When March Went Mad The Game That Transformed Basketball|Seth Davis|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312037677s/5675224.jpg|5846773] is a collection of essays from those who grew up during wars, or within warzones. The stories related are the lives of those born in internment camps, growing up with father's who suffer PTSD, and those refugees who attempted to escape the throes of a city in revolution. Also told are those whose towns have been occupied, or controlled by drug cartels. The stories are moving, rarely funny, but for the most part surprisingly optimistic. The future, the underlying current runs, could be better.

The essays in the book do not follow any theme, other than what I've before stated. The situations each person grew up in are radically different and through these situations one learns about the differences that exist from war to war, and how people react differently under these pressures. It's a fascinating sort of case study, if you will, and definitely conveys what [a:J.L. Powers|773359|J.L. Powers|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1220046825p2/773359.jpg] wished it to: the fact that children are often those affected worst by wars, and that the effects continue to grow from generation to generation.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about the wars going on, or that have gone on, from one country to another and what it is like to live through them. I also would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to get involved with charity work. Some of the implications of the stories are surprising, and some money one thinks may be spent best in one place may be better spent in somewhere rather different. ( )

An extraordinary collection of deeply personal, unflinchingly honest accounts of coming of age in the midst of war, revealing the emotional, physical, and psychological scars of "that mad game." Great book for discussion, high school and older. ( )