The Girl with the Red Balloon

August 1, 2017

Gr 7 Up-Locke's debut is an intricately plotted historical thriller with elements of science fiction and magical realism. Sixteen-year-old Ellie grew up hearing her grandfather, who survived the Holocaust, tell a story about how he was rescued by a girl with a magical red balloon. So when Ellie spots a red balloon flying by during a school trip to East Germany, she reaches out to touch it-and finds herself sent back to 1988 East Berlin. Once there, she befriends local rebels Kai and Mitzi, and learns that these balloons comprise a sort of underground railroad helping provide a means of escape for East Germans. The narrative is divided between Ellie and Kai in 1988 and her grandfather's experiences during and after the Second World War, allowing for a sensitive exploration of the long-lasting effects of war and subjugation, especially on marginalized people (Kai is Romani, Mitzi is queer, and Ellie's family is Jewish). Locke's ambition is clear, though at times the multitude of plot threads and time periods can feel confusing. A solid introduction to the issues faced by teens in 1980s East Berlin. VERDICT This sophisticated, unusual work is likely to appeal to fans of World War II and Holocaust fiction, as well as those who like their history with a tinge of romance and magic.-Ann Foster, Saskatoon Public Library, Sask.

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September 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Are memorials apologies? This is the question on Ellie's mind when she's transported back in time to East Berlin in 1988. Her grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, tells her she needs to remember history, even the bad parts, and her school trip to Berlin is the perfect opportunity. Once she's landed in the past, she meets Kai, a boy determined to help passengers cross from East Berlin to West Berlin, where it's safer. Meanwhile, in East Berlin, an underground resistance group use magical balloons to help people cross the Wall. Ellie and Kai are very differenther modern, shy sensibilities clash with his rough and grim determination and they make an interesting pair. Add in the magic of the balloon makers to a time when hope was far too distant for many people, and readers will find an enticing, intriguing new novel. This is a clever conceptwhat if luftballons were magical time-traveling devices?and Locke fills in the blanks with questions about history and life and love. This is a must for any historical fiction collection.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
While visiting Berlin, contemporary American teen Ellie time-travels to 1988 East Berlin. Shocked, she meets a group of resistance "Runners" who help "Passengers" flee the oppressive regime using time-traveling red balloons. Interspersed chapters describe a young German Jewish man's horrific experiences in Poland in 1941. Both settings are intriguing, but the story lines are somewhat muddled.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

June 15, 2017
The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor finds herself transported back in time to East Berlin circa 1988 in this time-travel mystery debut. Ellie Baum is on a school trip to Berlin in the present day when she reaches out for a passing balloon and finds herself inexplicably transported to the same place in a different time, 18 months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Disoriented, she has no choice but to trust the first people she encounters--two teenage outcasts, Kai and Mitzi--who are agents of an underground group that wields magic and science to rescue people from East Berlin using bespelled red balloons. Ellie's presence confounds even the balloon makers, especially since no one knows how to send her back to her own time. As Kai and Ellie investigate this question, growing closer in the process, the dead bodies of other, failed time travelers start piling up and complicating the mystery. Chapters of Ellie's story in 1988 East Berlin are interspersed throughout with the story of her grandfather's miraculous escape from Chelmno, a concentration camp in Poland, in 1942, a narrative that eventually converges with Ellie's own. Kai is Romani, Ellie is Jewish, and Mitzi is gay, identities that lend deeper significance to this gripping story of disparate facets of European history. An absorbing blend of historical fiction, mystery, and magical realism. (author's note) (Fantasy. 14-18)

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