WALLS

Young people, separated by politics and ideology, search for common ground.

Berlin, 1960. His dad’s latest tour of duty brings 15-year-old Drew and his family to a city divided—a fact brought home by meeting his cousin Matthias who lives in the city’s Communist-controlled section. As the teens warily circle each other, conflicting in temperaments as well as doctrinaire views of each other’s cultures but gradually building bonds, Elliott both fills in the historical background—aided by Behm’s mixing of period photos, contemporary news, and pop-culture notes—and crafts a tale of rising tensions that culminates in a suspenseful climax that catches Drew on the wrong side of the east-west barrier that literally springs up overnight and forces Matthias into an agonizing choice between family and freedom. Along with tucking in provocative incidents, like the ugly scene when a pair of drunken GIs spot a Black serviceman and his White German fiancee, the author gives readers food for thought by asking them to envision living under a regime in which neighbors might be informers and then having just such secret accusations leveled both against Matthias and, on the U.S. side, Drew’s parents too. An afterword points to similarities between the Khrushchev-led Communists’ disruptive sowing of fear and suspicion in 1960 and Putin’s in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. The cast mostly presents as White.

A sensitive exploration of cogent themes in a richly detailed historical setting.