Moving to West Berlin with his parents was going to be an adventure. A least that’s what Harry thought it would be. Dad’s new job as an American Diplomat in the ‘American quarter’ on the West side of the Berlin Wall would be full of exploring trips together as they embraced their new city and home.

Seeing a boy shot as he tries to escape East Berlin changes all that for Harry. It troubles him deeply, giving him nightmares and filling his head with thoughts and worries about what is going on behind the wall only metres from his new home. Music is a great distraction, although his piano teacher scorns the type of music he’d like to play. A new friend in a local comics store also helps him pass his days and occupy him as he watches his mum become more homesick and his busy dad become more distant to them both.

Meanwhile, on the East side of the wall, Jakob is also killing time. He just needs to finish school then he plans to leave. His parents are ten times stricter than Harry’s, his father being a highly ranked Stasi Security official. People fear him and so does Jakob, the truth being they aren’t his parents at all. He’s been adopted after his own parents were arrested years before, and then told he should be grateful to have such an important ‘father’.

With a balloon, some postcards and lemon juice, these two 14 yr olds connect over a shared desire to know what is happening on the opposite side of the Berlin Wall. They also share a love of music, Jakob being an accomplished violinist and even a valued member of a band called The Stamp Collectors.

This band has a secret however – one that could be life threatening if ever discovered. Jakob begins a double life. One helping his friends and one being a dutiful son, and comrade to the East.

The stakes rise for both of these young teens as they collaborate on a plan. But Harry discovers a devastating truth about his own father, the danger rising even further.

To me, the cover of this novel didn’t portray the tension within. But the struggle of two teen boys with dangerous fathers on both sides of the Berlin Wall, is an increasingly tense one. The historical aspect of this time in the world was as interesting as the story itself – two boys raised with different political views, but essentially the same.

Told in both Harry’s (West side), and Jakob’s (East side) points of view, The Boy Behind the Wall is a gripping read, building to a crescendo of action, flying bullets, an escape plan collapsing around them and life or death right alongside. Harry has always been a super hero comic fan, and the use of an adult comic storyline coming to his aid whenever he is faced with despair, is a great connection throughout the story.

Both boys grow up quickly as they face terrible truths about their fathers, and many lives are put in jeopardy. Alex Rider (Anthony Horowitz), or The Haven (Simon Lelic) fans will enjoy The Boy Behind the Wall.

Author – Maximillian Jones

Age – 11+

(2021, Allen & Unwin, Berlin, Germany, 1960’s, East, West, American, Control, Stasa, Fear, Communist, Friendship, Penpals, Music, Violinist, Band, Escape plan, Tunnel, Tension, Interrogation, Spies, Family, Violence, Guards, Berlin Wall, Postcards, Secret, Action, Historical, Courage, Betrayal, Growing Up)