The Wall (A Kelpie Paperback) - Softcover

Lutzeier, Elizabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0862414423 ISBN 13: 9780862414429

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd, 1993

Synopsis

Tells the story of two teenage girls' experience of living in East Berlin under the shadow of the Wall and the part they played in its destruction. This powerful novel demonstrates that the power of the people can still change the world.

About this title

From School Library Journal:

Grade 6 Up-- Hannah's mother is shot and killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall just six months before it falls. This foreknowledge granted to readers gives the book a sense of irony that at times is almost unenduringly heavy. Her mother's death puts a strain on the girl and her father that almost drives them apart while she grows closer to Steffi, a girl her own age who seems so daring and free of the fears that grip Hannah. This novel does a good job of re-creating an oppressive atmosphere of mistrust, suspicion, and lies. Hannah is not even allowed to grieve for her mother, for to do would draw attention to her father and herself. She cannot talk to her father about her mother or her own growing involvement with the freedom movement. It's not until the end that she discovers that he, too, has been secretly working for liberation. This is not only a unique view of a specific historical event, but also an affirmation of the power of a people to speak and be heard, and, through diligence and perseverance, to topple a tyrannical regime. --Susan M. Harding, Mesquite Public Library, TX
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly:

Every word in this account of life in East Germany just prior to reunification might be true, but Lutzeier's horrified tones and monolithic approach undercut her credibility. When Hannah's mother is killed while trying to drive across the Berlin Wall, Hannah and her father must feign indifference in order to keep the authorities from declaring their home unfit. Hannah's best friend defects with her family, and Hannah takes up with a freethinker named Steffi, who inspires her to acts of defiance. The atmosphere is almost inescapably repressive: the school monitors their private lives; participation in Party functions is virtually mandatory; Big Brother sees and hears everything. Hannah's astonishment and the freshness of her outrage at the regime she's grown up with smack of the propagandist's trade. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0862414423
• ISBN 13: 9780862414429
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176