Max in the House of Spies: A Tale of World War II

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How did you react to the book’s blend of historical fiction, spy thriller, and fantasy elements? What made the combination of these genres feel effective or challenging?

2. Adam Gidwitz is known for his A Tale Dark and Grimm series, which also reinterprets historical stories with a unique blend of humor and darkness. If you’ve read any of his other works, how did this book compare for you in tone and style? In what ways does Max in the House of Spies feel like a signature Gidwitz story, and how does it explore new territory for him as an author?

3. Did you find the novel’s cliffhanger ending, with Max stranded in Germany, a satisfying place to pause the story?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. Max’s intense desire to rescue his parents inverts the typical parent-child dynamic and drives all his actions. Think about a time in your life when you felt a profound sense of responsibility for someone else’s well-being. How did that feeling shape your choices and actions?

2. Jean offers Max a powerful piece of wisdom, reframing a famous quote by saying, “’Tis better to have lived and lost than never to have lived at all.” How does this idea resonate with your own experiences of facing challenges or setbacks?

3. When in your own life have you navigated feeling like an outsider or divided between multiple parts of your identity? How did you navigate that? Did it alter your perspective of yourself or others?

4. Max has numerous mentors in the book. Who has acted as an important mentor for you and how did this affect you? What was it that they offered which was so significant?

5. Sergeant Thomas’s story resonates with Max and helps him to understand more about the world and his own sense of principles. When has hearing someone else’s personal history helped to crystalize your own understanding or ethical values? Why?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. Max is a child refugee in 1938-1940. What does Gidwitz’s story reveal about the experience of being a child refugee which is relevant to today’s societies and modern refugee crises?

2. Consider the treatment of British imperial values and the novel’s authority figures. How does the novel use these to challenge accepted war narratives which depict a straightforwardly “good” side and “evil” side in World War II?

3. Jean hints that being a woman holds her back from her full potential in 1940s Britain. In what ways does the novel reveal and explore the limitations placed on women at the time?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. How do the immortal creatures Stein and Berg support the novel’s absurdist, self-conscious style?

2. Engaging in pranks is central to Max’s character. How do these schemes trace his changing role from schoolboy to spy?

3. What role does the eccentric setting of Tring Park, with its kangaroos and explosive-rigged dummies, play in the narrative? How does this strange, surreal environment shape your engagement with the narrative?

4. Let’s compare Max’s story to other young spy narratives, like Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series. How does Gidwitz’s grounding in real-world history change the stakes and tone of the story for you as a reader?

5. How does the novel depict animals and Max’s relationship with them? How does this inform your sense of his character, especially as an only child and increasingly alone in an adult world?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. Imagine you are one of Max’s trainers at Tring Park and need to design a new, unconventional test for him. What skill would your test be designed to assess, and what surprising setup would you create?

2. Max is upset not to receive any letters from his parents. Image that his parents have written him a letter, which has gone missing. What would it say?

3. Think about a supporting character in the book, like Sergeant Thompson or Jean Leslie. If they had two creatures on their shoulders representing their core internal conflict, what would those spirits be, and how would they interact? Write some three-way dialogue between the human character and their two spirits.