{"id":32357,"date":"2017-04-03T22:29:01","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T02:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=32357"},"modified":"2017-04-03T22:29:51","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T02:29:51","slug":"review-of-cloud-and-wallfish-by-anne-nesbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=32357","title":{"rendered":"Review of Cloud and Wallfish, by Anne Nesbet"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Cloud and Wallfish<\/em><\/p>\n

by Anne Nesbet<\/p>\n

Candlewick Press, 2016. 385 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

One day both Noah\u2019s parents come to pick him up from school. He is informed that they are taking a sudden trip to Germany, leaving now. And not West Germany, the one they\u2019d talked about going to for vacation some day, the other Germany. Noah\u2019s Mom is going to continue her PhD research, looking at education for people with disabilities on both sides of the Wall.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s only the beginning for Noah. They also tell him that he\u2019s going to be called Jonah and he has a different birthday than the one he\u2019s always used. They even made a book for him, showing him the history of his life \u2013 with fake elementary school pictures and fake places they supposedly lived.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s 1989, and Noah and his parents \u2013 now the Brown family instead of the Keller family \u2013 are going to live in East Berlin for six months.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve got a set of Rules. They must not draw attention to themselves. They must smile. They must not talk about serious things indoors, where they\u2019ll be bugged. If Noah absolutely must talk about the past, he must stick to the Jonah Book.<\/p>\n

Noah has a stutter, which makes German, with all its consonants, even harder for him than English, even though he has a gift for languages and can understand. But the authorities don\u2019t think he can speak it well enough to go to school. He meets a girl named Claudia (pronounced \u201cCloud-ee-a\u201d) who lives in their apartment building with her grandma and missed school because she was sick.<\/p>\n

Before contact is forbidden, Noah\/Jonah and Claudia, who both feel like Changelings, invent a fairyland and draw pictures of that place on a map of Berlin. On the map, West Berlin is blank, so they fill it in as fairyland.<\/p>\n

The adult reader will know this was an interesting time to be in Berlin \u2013 and sure enough, things progress as events move toward the Wall coming down. To fill in historical details, every chapter has a \u201cSecret File\u201d giving some background. I was a little ambivalent about those being included. But since it was information I had already, it seems only fair that kids should have that information, too.<\/p>\n

I was pulled into this book right away, as Noah was bewildered by his parents\u2019 news of the sudden move and name change. The characterization is brilliant as his parents take on East Germany, and Noah observes, follows the Rules, and makes a Changeling friend.<\/p>\n

Of course, I\u2019ve got a soft spot for this book since I lived in Germany for 10 years, though it was after the Wall fell. There was even a Sonderschule<\/em> mentioned. It\u2019s a school for special needs kids, but hey, it\u2019s part of a special book.<\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/cloud_and_wallfish.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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