The Wall Between Us by Dan Smith

Anja and Monika are best friends. They live in Berlin and it only takes a few steps to cross the street to see each other ... until!  The year is 1961. It is August 13th.

1. How will I see Monika if there's barbed wire right along the middle of the road.

2. How will Otto get back home? (Papa says Ottos will be find. He says cats are cleverer than the devil and that they can find a way through anything.)

3. How will Uncle Konrad get to work?

4. What's going to happen now?

The answer to question four forms the content of this book. We read journal entries by Anja and letters from Monika although sadly these cannot be delivered.

"At midnight on 13th August, 1961, East German authorities built a barrier of barbed  wire and cinder blocks to stop their citizens from leaving. ... The Berlin wall was approximately 155 kilometres long and (it) was five metres high in some places. .... Approximately 200 people were killed trying to escape from East Berlin to West Berlin. At midnight on 9 November 1989, restrictions were ended and people were finally free to pass through the Berlin Wall."

Read an extract from the first chapter here. And here is a very detailed review with text quotes and images. 

This is a compulsive, nuanced and relevant tale, about an important period of recent European history.  Historical Novel society

From the beginning of the story, we are aware that Anja and Monika get arrested for their crimes. Each journal entry or letter is preceded by a Ministry for State Security case file note. These detail Anja and Monika’s arrest in the Autumn of 1961. What we are yet to discover is what the two get up to and how they get found out. Smith presents us with one great big jigsaw puzzle and piece by piece, we have to ascertain how the arrest will unfurl. Just Imagine

I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through this gripping first-hand account which relates the events between 13th August and 7th October - the date of Anja's arrest. I highly recommend this book for readers aged 10+. It was published in 2023 by Chicken House in the UK. This publisher always deliver splendid books for middle grade readers. 

Bookseller blurb: A stunning, exciting story from acclaimed author Dan Smith - author of the Carnegie Medal-nominated Nisha's War. BERLIN 1961 Anja and Monika live opposite each other. They play together every day, with Otto the cat. One night they wake up to bangs and shouts. Soldiers are building a huge barbed wire fence between them. A terrible forever wall that gets longer and higher until it divides the whole city. On the East side, Monika is scared - neighbours are becoming spies and there are secret police everywhere. It's Anja who spots that Otto has found a way across. If he can visit Monika, then perhaps she can too. But Anja gets trapped and there's no safe way back . . .

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