1961 – Two teenage boys are excited. They creep through the night after conjuring a plan to see two girls. This plan however is playing out in East Germany where a wall of vicious wire and border guards are present to prevent them from achieving their goal. These boys are excellent swimmers, and after scoping out their path of least discovery they find a place that will help hide them as they cross the harbour.

East Germany. A strict regime of Socialism, demanding loyalty of its population. This loyalty is strong in many, making them watchful and wary of traitors among them. Even if they are just two teenage boys wanting to see their girlfriends. They pay the price in their trust of others around them.

Marta knows all about distrust. She is the sister of one of these teens and hates the lies told in the local newspapers, labelling her older brother a Western spy. Her family has been rocked to its core with the loss of her brother and she is struggling to find her balance without him. Until she hears of another escape plan.

Trust is the key again, and with informers everywhere, ready to turn in their neighbours for nothing but the power they feel over others, Marta doesn’t know who to believe in. Conversations are dangerous wherever she goes, especially after hearing adults who claim to be friends also claim they don’t trust each other either. Who is telling the truth?

Tension rises within her at the knowledge the Stasi are watching her. This comes from a Stasi officer himself, following her, threatening her family. Do they know something she doesn’t? Finally, she knows she must place her trust in someone if she is ever going to save herself and her parents.

1989 – The wall still stands between West and East Germany. The difference between both sides of Berlin is even more noticeable. East Berlin is in a state of disrepair but the West is moving forward with the rest of the world.

When Kurt’s own parents were deemed traitors by East Germany, they were to be executed. Luckily his grandfather, high up in the Stasi prevented this, but Kurt never saw them again. His older brother Franz is a soldier working for the Stasi and keen to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. Kurt begins to hate Franz as he revels in the shooting of normal people trying to escape. Speaking their parent’s name in their own home is also banned. When a chance to join his parents in West Germany is dropped in his lap, he wonders if it’s a trick. Is Franz testing him somehow?

This story of the Berlin Wall is a gripping one. I was taken back to a time when a country is sliced in half overnight by miles of razor wire in a warped attempt to prevent the West’s capitalism to spread throughout Germany. Border checkpoints are ruled with an iron fist, and anyone trying to escape are shot, no matter their age.

The tension of living in East Germany and not being able to trust anyone – even your own family members, builds throughout the novel, and the two time zones of 1961 and 1989 are cleverly interwoven with a surprising twist.

Anyone who enjoys Alan Gratz novels will enjoy this well researched and engaging read of a troubling time in our history. Thankfully it culminates in a barrier cutting families and futures apart, finally being torn down.

Author – Andy Marino

Age – 10+

(2023, Scholastic, Germany, East, West, Spies, Spy, Distrust, Stasi, Soldiers, Threats, Action, Secrets, Family, Shooting, Guns, Murder, Socialism, Capitalism, Freedom, Oppression, 1961, 1989, Historical)