Review: The Girl with the Red Balloon

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The Girl with the Red Balloon The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was amazing! I love the way time travel worked with the rich emotional and historical journey the author takes you on. The world building was great and the author definitely did her research. The character building was done really well especially for the time period the book is set in. I felt like I was there to witness history. I highly recommend!

Jewish American high school student Ellie Baum has left Pittsburgh and arrived in Germany for a spring break trip with her German Language class. Ellie thinks this trip will give her an excuse to practice German and give her perks for her college applications. Her Saba, a Holocaust survivor, didn't want her to go and she doesn't completely understand why but she will.

"We are strange, sometimes, in the ways we choose to bear witness"

When her friend Amanda wants to go flirt with a boy by the Berlin Wall Memorial, Ellie spots a red balloon and thinks of her grandfather Saba and his balloon stories. He called beautiful days balloon days. She thinks a kid may have accidentally let go of the ballon and to draw her friends attention from the boy, asks her to take a picture of Ellie with the balloon. She thinks it will be a beautiful gesture for her grandfather.

When she grabs the string on the balloon she is transported to 1988 East Berlin, Germany. The balloon is a portal of sorts but not meant for her and the book is non stop hold onto your seat action and drama rollercoaster. The scenes about the Holocaust were gut wrenching and I cried. The friends she makes stay with you as she tries to figure out who she can and can't trust. I'm so excited to read the next book!

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