The immediate comparison that came to mind when I found out I had to read this book for university was The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (a book I absolutely despise for a number of reasons, none of which I'll go in to here.)

Thankfully, this was much better than that book. I think it benefited from being shorter, and from the author not forcing an end to the story after so few pages. While I was a little incredulous that a 150 page book for 10 year olds had something of a cliffhanger ending, I did find myself excited to read the rest of the series, which is probably a good sign. The narrator was very likable, and the structure of the book made it easy to read in just under an hour.

I don't know that I'd recommend this to every child, but I do think it's a very good book about something it's important to teach children about.