Berliners
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A riveting story about the rivalry between two brothers living on opposite sides of the Berlin wall during its construction in the 1960s, and how their complicated legacy and dreams of greatness will determine their ultimate fate.
A city divided. A family fractured. Two brothers caught between past and present.
Berlin, 1961. Rudi Möser-Fleischmann is an aspiring photographer with dreams of greatness, but he can't hold a candle to his talented, charismatic twin brother Peter, an ambitious actor. With the sudden divorce of their parents, the brothers find themselves living in different sectors of a divided Berlin; the postwar partition strangely mirroring their broken family. But one night, as the city sleeps, the Berlin Wall is hurriedly built, dividing society further, and Rudi and Peter are forced to choose between playing by the rules and taking their dreams underground. That is, until the truth about their family history and the growing cracks in their relationship threaten to split them apart for good.
From National Book Award-nominated, critically acclaimed author-illustrator Vesper Stamper comes a stark look at how resentment and denial can strain the bonds of brotherhood to the breaking point.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fraternal twins Peter and Rudi, 15, struggle to maintain their relationship while navigating opposing ideals in this sprawling Cold War–set novel by Stamper (A Cloud of Outrageous Blue). In East Berlin in April 1961, the boys lead a tense co-existence with their unhappily married parents and paternal great-grandmother. "Golden boy" Peter is the leader of the siblings' youth Communist group, though he privately questions the party's motives. Meanwhile, quiet photographer Rudi is a dedicated Communist. Rising political tensions, their parents' increasingly turbulent marriage, and inter-personal challenges, such as their mother's declining mental health, exacerbate the brothers' ideological differences before physical distance pushes them further apart. The boys' alternating perspectives sometimes read too similarly, and portrayals of the supporting cast can feel problematic, as when a Black soldier's seemingly primary purpose is to teach the siblings about racism in America: "this country of yours was exterminating anyone ‘non-Aryan.' And now... I feel more at ease here than in my own country." Occasional spreads of somber-toned artwork enhance the gloomy ambience of life in a divided Germany in this ambitious portrayal of one family's personal suffering. Ages 12–up.
