Over and out

Over and out

Jenni L. Walsh

Book - 2022

"Sophie has spent her entire life behind the Berlin Wall, guarded by land mines, towers, and attack dogs. A science lover, Sophie dreams of becoming an inventor ... but that's unlikely in East Berlin, where the Stasi, the secret police, are always watching. Though she tries to avoid their notice, when her beloved neighbor is arrested, Sophie is called to her principal's office. There, a young Stasi officer asks Sophie if she'll spy on her neighbor after she is released. Sophie doesn't want to agree, but in reality has no choice: The Stasi threaten to bring her mother, who has a disability from post-polio syndrome, to an institution if Sophie does not comply. Sophie is backed into a corner, until she finds out, for t...he first time, that she has family on the other side of the Wall, in the West. This could be what she needs to attempt an escape with her mother to freedom -- if she can invent her way out"--

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Subjects
Germany (East). > Ministerium für Staatssicherheit > Juvenile fiction.
Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, 1961-1989 > Juvenile fiction.
Berlin (Germany) > History > 1945-1990 > Juvenile fiction.
Novels.
Genres
Novels
Published
New York : Scholastic Press 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Jenni L. Walsh (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
337 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9781338775785
Contents unavailable.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

On the day she was born, Aug. 13, 1961, a wall went up that separated Sophie Ziegel from her family's past. Now 12, Sophie and her best friend, Katarina, daydream about escaping East Germany's oppressive government by crossing the Berlin Wall into freedom in West Berlin. An aspiring scientist, Sophie knows the government will dictate her future as they did for Monika, her 18-year-old babysitter who dreamed of teaching school but has been directed to become a pharmacist instead. Complaining about her assignment lands Monika under the watchful eye of the Stasi, or secret police. Villainous agent Herr Becker threatens to put Sophie's wheelchair-using mother in an institution if she doesn't spy on Monika. Braving the "death strip" filled with trip wires, dogs, and armed guards that separates East from West seems like the only option. A surprise encounter with visitors from West Berlin along with Sophie's Inventor's Box of scavenged items lead to a high-stakes escape plan. Filled with adrenaline-inducing action and inspired by true stories, this novel evokes the perils of life in East Berlin and the risks some took in search of something better. The ingenuity Sophie and Katarina display in overcoming obstacles is compelling, and the no-win situation Sophie finds herself in rings painfully true. Page-turning action and dangerous intrigue fuel this Cold War--era novel. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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