about the book
The wall went up in the middle of the night, dividing East and West Berlin.
Gerta woke up to sirens and sobbing. Her father and one of her brothers had been visiting the West side, the free side. Now their visit has become an indefinite stay while Gerta, her mother, and brother Fritz are prisoners in their own city.
The East German soldiers don’t point their guns over the wall, but inside the wall at their own citizens.
Gerta thinks about freedom, but knows it’s impossible.
Then she sees her father on a viewing platform on the western side. He’s doing a weird dance. Soon she receives a drawing and understands her father’s actions.
He wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel under the wall, to freedom.
If they’re caught, they’ll be killed.
about the author
Jennifer Nielsen grew up in northern Utah, and learned to love chocolate and mountains early on in her life. She also learned to love books. For as far back as she can think she has had characters in her head, and so far they have not started talking to her. That’s a good thing.
In elementary school Jennifer began writing, first about a girl whose daydreams became real and trapped her inside them. At the time she liked the idea, but she didn’t write very well so the idea never stuck. At the age of eleven she was researching how to pick locks and decided to call a locksmith—when the guy at the other end of the line learned he was talking to a sixth-grader, he hung up.
Her goal was to be published by the age of seventeen. That’s the age the author of The Outsiders was when that book—Jennifer’s favorite—was published, so she thought to match it. She didn’t, not by many years. Theater, school, debates, and life got in the way.
After realizing all her writing attempts were with adult romantic suspense characters, she switched to YA fantasy adventure. Then Elliot and the Goblin War was published. That turned into the Underwold Trilogy which was successfully followed by the Ascendance Trilogy and the Infinity Ring Trilogy. And there you have it.
Source:
Author website
Also by Jennifer Nielsen:
Rise of the Wolf (Mark of the Thief, Book 2). Scholastic. 2016.
Mark of the Thief (Book 1). Scholastic. 2015.
The Shadow Throne (Ascendance Trilogy, Book 3). Scholastic. 2014.
Behind Enemy Lines (Infinity Ring, Book 6). Scholastic. 2013.
The Runaway King (Ascendance Trilogy, Book 2). Scholastic. 2013.
The False Prince (Ascendance Trilogy, Book 1). Scholastic. 2012.
The Underworld Chronicles series. Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. 2010-2012.
read more!
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
Long ago in a forest Otto became lost, but discovered three strange sisters, which initiate him into an adventure involving a prophecy, promise, and a magic harmonica. Decades later three kids in different parts of the world—Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California—become caught in the adventure as well, as they realize their destinies.
Mark of the Thief (Book 1) by Jennifer A. Nielsen
When Nic, a slave in the outskirts of Rome, is forced to retrieve treasure from Julius Caesar’s sealed cave, he expects to die. Instead, he finds a magical amulet and keeps it for himself. Suddenly, Nic is in the middle of conspiracy to overthrow the emperor, and surrounded by traitors and spies. Can Nic stop the rebellion and secure his freedom with the help of the amulet’s magic?
My Brother’s Secret by Dan Smith
Karl Friedman is excited to join the Hitler Youth one day, while his older brother wants nothing to do with it. Then their father dies. Karl had always thought Hitler was a hero, but is he actually the villain? And what is the secret group his brother is a part of? Should he join too?