A Berlin Love Song
(5 reviews with an average rating of 4 out of 5)
Publisher: Troika Books
It's 1942. Lili Petalo is a trapeze artist in her family's circus. Max Hartmann is a member of the Hitler Youth, about to be recruited into the German Army. But Lili's family are Roma, which means that she, along with Jews, Sinti and many other groups are being persecuted by the Nazis - and, worse - sent to concentration camps. Lili and Max's love is forbidden, and the war will tear them apart.
Called "the forgotten holocaust" by Angela Merkel, the persecution of close to a million Roma and Sinti people is one we hear little about in the context of World War Two. Though Matthias' novel is a work of fiction, it does very much feel like a story that might have really occurred between two young people who had the misfortune of falling in love during such an unimaginably tragic and savage time.
-
Holocaust Memorial Day (teens)
To mark Holocaust Memorial Day and the liberation of Auschwitz, here is a poignant booklist that should hopefully help explain and inform younger readers about the events surrounding the Holocaust.
What you thought...
Average rating:
-
footballcat, 19 May 2023
-
My 12 year old read this and was in floods of tears by the end… it is, as others have said, very hard hitting at the end, but he enjoyed the story. Quite a step up from MG’s ‘Once’ which was where the recommendation linked to from Booktrust. A complex and meaningful storyline.
Anne, 11 June 2022
-
It was a great read, enchanting and mysterious. I loved every moment yet the ending was very hard hitting but truthful of the basis of concentration camps.
May, 14 December 2019
-
It was a great read. I loved the book and it felt like I was really there.
Anonymous, 14 December 2019
-
The best
reza, 09 April 2018
Amazing book but the starting is confusing for me as I'm still a kid .Lovely book