In this, the fourth in the ‘Stella Street’ series, the Australian writer has collaborated with Heike Brandt, German bookseller, writer and translator. They tell a story in the form of email correspondence between the now-teenaged Henni and Berlin schoolboy Leo Schmidt. In the previous book, The Ballad of Cauldron Bay, Henni became interested in the German family who had built the holiday house. Now she follows a trail that begins with the books and letters they left there many years ago. Leo’s life is different in time zone, seasons and language but the two help each other meet many challenges. Leo takes the responsibility of hiding his schoolmate Felix away from the police when deportation is threatened. Everything builds to an exciting climax as the threads tie together, from one side of the globe to the other, of stories past and present. The true-to-life voices of Leo and Henni, the reports of football matches and attempts at cooking, make the book accessible and fun, as do the different typefaces, sketches and puzzles. But at its core To the Boy in Berlin contains deep truths about cruelty to outsiders and the cost of standing up for justice. Highly recommended for 10 to 14-year-olds, and irresistible to teachers for class use with its themes of history, language differences and human rights.

Robin Morrow was a specialist bookseller and now teaches and reviews children’s literature

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: elizabeth honey & heike brandt