School Library Journal (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

K-Gr 3 In this debut picture book, Cole explores the serious theme of family separation. This title follows a young boy's struggle to reunite his family when his father is stuck on the other side of the Berlin Wall. Based on true stories, it depicts the family struggles and situation through the eyes of a child. Although trapped with his mother and sister in the East, he is heroic in his determination to find a way to reunite his family. Cole successfully uses his broad strokes of bold color to define the differences between the east and west sides of the wall. Dark tones are representative of the dismal repression of the East, while brighter colors define the freedom of the Westthe place where the family will join together once more. Published to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the tearing down of the wall, this story appeals to children's natural instinct for fairness and justice. It could be paired with Jacqueline Woodson's The Other Side (Putnam, 2001) to compare and contrast it with the struggle for civil rights here in the United States. For a wider world view, another choice might be Sami and the Time of Troubles (Clarion, 1992) by Florence Heide, about a child growing up in war-torn Lebanon. However used, this powerful story of family, torn apart and reunited, allows children access to an important historical event by combining strikingly bold illustrations with a carefully worded text that engages and informs. A recommended addition to any library but especially those with elementary grade patrons. Carole Phillips, Greenacres Elementary School, Scarsdale, NY

Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2015)

When a wall divides their city, a boy searches for a way to reunite his now-separated family members. Although the jacket calls it a story about the Berlin Wall, the book proper does not provide any such identification (probably wise, given its ahistorical conclusion). Digital illustrations reinforce the story's fabular nature, with tenderly cartooned characters set against ominous silhouettes and the monumental wall.

ALA Booklist (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2014)

An imposing wall, topped with barbed wire and guarded by soldiers, separates a man from his family. His son dreams of escaping to the other side, where, his mother says, life is better, but the bricks are stacked against them. Some on the boy's side attempt to flee; some succeed, some fail. Undeterred, the boy digs a tunnel through which the family escapes, and with the merciful help of an enemy soldier, the family is reunited. Cole's dramatic digital illustrations fill the spreads with saturated color, dynamic composition, and atmospheric lighting, conveying the narrative's powerful intensity. Though no direct mention is made of the Berlin Wall, or the complicated politics surrounding it, this emotional story, published on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the wall's dismantling, invites further investigation and reflection, and it may be best appreciated by older children who will want to discuss the story's challenging, powerful imagery. For another story about young people living in military zones, pair this with Michael Forman's A Child's Garden (2009).