I loved this book! Locke did a great job of telling an interesting historical tale without getting bogged down in details. And the magic felt real, with in-text justifications (small ones, but still there) that make it feasible within in our own reality. The characters were diverse, and Ellie's Jewishness felt very present in ways that most stories ever have; I am not Jewish and cannot speak to the specifics of her actions and prayers, but I enjoyed their presence throughout, without feeling like it was overdone. It'll be a wonderful addition to stories with Jewish characters. I look forward to recommending this to teens and adults alike, and to a future sequel.

The Girl With the Red Balloon Review:

First the first few paragraphs, I was hooked. Katherine Locke creates the voice of the sidekick character that we all feel like, most days. Ellie is relatable, and I want to follow her on an adventure, want to watch her understand we’re all the protagonists of our own stories.

I’m a huge history nerd, and spent my undergrad degree in a European Studies program. German history, especially modern German history was my thing. And Locke’s novel is full of history, little bits, little offerings that make this novel come alive. And while this is a work that blends the real with the fantastic, Locke’s “Author’s Note” will unpack what’s what when you’re finished exploring her version of Germany through time.

Kai’s voice is fantastic, so different from Ellie’s and yet, in the same way, I want to sit down and listen to his adventures. I know he knows the ugly side of life, and it makes him vulnerable.

Benno takes us even further back in time to 1941: his is the voice we’re most used to hearing when novels focus on modern German history. But what makes The Girl With The Red Balloon exciting is the layers!! And I love that this story explores what it means to be Jewish, and what connections to the past mean to teenagers like Ellie today!

One thing that I’m not loving is that there’s a lot of telling in the opening of the novel. Some of it’s needed to get the reader situated, but Kai seems to be telling us a lot! His motivation, his feelings for the cause, how Balloons work. And as a reader, I want to do a bit more work myself. Benno does this a bit too when we first meet him.

Four stars.

This review will also be posted on Goodreads and Amazon.

I loved the premise, and the characterization was good... unfortunately, there were a fair number of problems at the sentence level. Much of it read like a very promising second draft, I wish it had been given a bit more editorial attention to help bring the prose to the level that the story deserves.

Wow.

It's the next day now (I finished this at 11 last night) and I'm still shocked by how much I enjoyed this book.

Do you like:
-Jewish main characters
-multiple points of view
-time travelling stories
-diversity (Jewish mc, Romani mc, queer mc)
-historical fiction
-learning more about the Holocaust and the Berlin Wall
?

Then you'll love this book. I most definitely did.

My very small quibbles:
-I wasn't a *huge* fan of the writing style. By the middle of the book, I was used to it, but it was nothing outstanding in my opinion.
-It took me a bit to get into the book. I was thoroughly engrossed after a while, but at the beginning, I was a little confused.

Other than that, I really enjoyed it, and would highly, highly recommend you check it out when it releases. Katherine Locke has written a masterpiece that is especially timely right now, and will do a lot for so many people. The characters and story will stick with you long after you finish. I'd never read a YA about the Berlin Wall or even set in that time period before, and I am so happy this book exists.

The Girl with the Red Balloon tells the tale of Ellie Baum, a teen who inadvertently time travels back to 1988 East Berlin via a magical red balloon. While there, she learns that there is an entire network of balloonmakers, who are using their magic to fight oppression by giving the gift of freedom to selected passengers.

Well, that was a magical adventure, but that ending!!!! There I was, some tears escaping my eyes, and then that's all Locke gave me. Well done, Katherine Locke. You have left me totally wanting. Kudos to you.

I shelved this book on my fantasy shelf, because it involved time travel, but with any time travel book, we also have some historical content. Most of the story takes place in East Berlin, and I was in love with this idea of the balloonmakers helping East Germans over the wall, because my family, who were in West Germany, actually offered their home to those escaping the East.

"If you give a girl a magic balloon, she'll rage against the machine."

But, Locke didn't just focus on the oppression of those behind the Iron Curtain, she also wove in the genocide of the European Roma and Jews during the Nazi regime of World War II. The character, Benno, was a Jewish teen, who was relocated from Berlin to the Łódź Ghetto in Poland during WWII, and the chapters that were from his point of view, were often painful. They tell starvation, slave labor, sickness, death, and despair, but there were also these shreds of hope and beauty too.

"If you give a girl a red balloon, she'll believe in magic and memory."

I totally fell in love with Ellie, Kai, and Mitzi. Each character was individually strong, but they were even better together. I adored the dynamic between Mitzi and Kai, and I immediately shipped Ellie and Kai. I found myself very invested in their relationship. I don't know if it was this idea of trans-temporal romance or that I, myself, was so in love with Kai. He was so complicated, loyal, brave. He risked his life, so that others could enjoy freedom. He gave up his wants and desires, and assumed a life behind the Iron Curtain, in order to protect his sister. Just, wow!

"If you give a girl a red balloon, she'll never want to let go."

This book took me on a historical journey with a magical twist. It made me laugh, cry, swoon, and smile. I rooted for good, raged against evil, and was left curious for the next book.

I thought this would be a good story because of the time travel aspect, but it was difficult to follow and not as interesting as I thought it would be

DNF for language.

What a magical book! Love how everything comes full circle and connects! Plus time traveling intertwined with magic! And that ending!!! *Hyperventilates*