ALA Booklist (Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Are memorials apologies? This is the question on Ellie's mind when she's transported back in time to East Berlin in 1988. Her grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, tells her she needs to remember history, even the bad parts, and her school trip to Berlin is the perfect opportunity. Once she's landed in the past, she meets Kai, a boy determined to help passengers cross from East Berlin to West Berlin, where it's safer. Meanwhile, in East Berlin, an underground resistance group use magical balloons to help people cross the Wall. Ellie and Kai are very different r modern, shy sensibilities clash with his rough and grim determination d they make an interesting pair. Add in the magic of the balloon makers to a time when hope was far too distant for many people, and readers will find an enticing, intriguing new novel. This is a clever concept at if luftballons were magical time-traveling devices? d Locke fills in the blanks with questions about history and life and love. This is a must for any historical fiction collection.

Kirkus Reviews (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor finds herself transported back in time to East Berlin circa 1988 in this time-travel mystery debut. Ellie Baum is on a school trip to Berlin in the present day when she reaches out for a passing balloon and finds herself inexplicably transported to the same place in a different time, 18 months before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Disoriented, she has no choice but to trust the first people she encounters—two teenage outcasts, Kai and Mitzi—who are agents of an underground group that wields magic and science to rescue people from East Berlin using bespelled red balloons. Ellie's presence confounds even the balloon makers, especially since no one knows how to send her back to her own time. As Kai and Ellie investigate this question, growing closer in the process, the dead bodies of other, failed time travelers start piling up and complicating the mystery. Chapters of Ellie's story in 1988 East Berlin are interspersed throughout with the story of her grandfather's miraculous escape from Chelmno, a concentration camp in Poland, in 1942, a narrative that eventually converges with Ellie's own. Kai is Romani, Ellie is Jewish, and Mitzi is gay, identities that lend deeper significance to this gripping story of disparate facets of European history. An absorbing blend of historical fiction, mystery, and magical realism. (author's note) (Fantasy. 14-18)

School Library Journal (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Gr 7 Up-ocke's debut is an intricately plotted historical thriller with elements of science fiction and magical realism. Sixteen-year-old Ellie grew up hearing her grandfather, who survived the Holocaust, tell a story about how he was rescued by a girl with a magical red balloon. So when Ellie spots a red balloon flying by during a school trip to East Germany, she reaches out to touch itand finds herself sent back to 1988 East Berlin. Once there, she befriends local rebels Kai and Mitzi, and learns that these balloons comprise a sort of underground railroad helping provide a means of escape for East Germans. The narrative is divided between Ellie and Kai in 1988 and her grandfather's experiences during and after the Second World War, allowing for a sensitive exploration of the long-lasting effects of war and subjugation, especially on marginalized people (Kai is Romani, Mitzi is queer, and Ellie's family is Jewish). Locke's ambition is clear, though at times the multitude of plot threads and time periods can feel confusing. A solid introduction to the issues faced by teens in 1980s East Berlin. VERDICT This sophisticated, unusual work is likely to appeal to fans of World War II and Holocaust fiction, as well as those who like their history with a tinge of romance and magic.Ann Foster, Saskatoon Public Library, Sask.

Voice of Youth Advocates (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Pittsburgh teen Eleanor (Ellie) Baum, against the advice of her Jewish grandfather, is on a trip with her German class visiting the Berlin Wall. Bored and tired of traipsing after her best friend Amanda, Ellie spots a red balloon and decides to have Amanda photograph her holding it. Immediately upon grasping the string, Ellie is transported to 1988 in East Berlin where she, disoriented and hysterical, is rescued by Kai and Mitzi, “Runners” for the Schopfers, a group that uses magic to help others escape over the wall into the West. Kai, a Romani from England, is protecting his sister, whose magical powers were shunned by their people but appreciated by the Schopfers; while Mitzi, a German lesbian, has found a place with them after her family’s rejection. When balloons are ready, Runners deliver them to the escapees and see those chosen safely over the wall. No one knows how Ellie managed to go backwards in time, but she must be protected until a return transport can be done. As time passes, Ellie shares adventures and becomes acquainted with the Schopfer leaders, Ashasher and Aurora, learning that in 1941, Aurora rescued her grandfather from the Lodz ghetto, thus saving his life and making him the first balloon escapee. Ellie and Kai fall in love and all three develop a deep, but doomed, relationship. Written in diary format, this initial book in The Balloonmakers series feels repetitious and lacks direction. The plot moves so slowly that a reader can enter the story at virtually any point without missing items of importance. Mystery and tension wane as characters flounder, and the conclusion lacks impact. The most interesting of the entries, the grandfather’s descriptions of his ghetto experiences, belong to a character not included in the action. Nevertheless, the teens’ love and friendship will likely appeal to young readers who enjoy this popular time travel/diary framework.—Laura Woodruff.