My Brother's Shadow
“Readers who are aware of the aftermath closing in on Moritz and his family will feel a chill looming over his romance with a Jewish neighbor and the illusory nature of the family’s brief respite after the war.” --BCCB “A good choice for sharing across the curriculum, this is a novel readers will want to discuss.” --Booklist "In this nuanced and realistic work of historical fiction, Schröder (Saraswati’s Way) immerses readers in her setting with meticulous details and dynamic characters that contribute to a palpable sense of tension. Moritz’s intimate narration captures the conflicts, divided loyalties, and everyday horrors of the period." --Publishers Weekly " 'War gives meaning to some men's lives. For other men, the experience of war extinguishes all meaning in life,' says a man who becomes Moritz's mentor; Schröder makes this sad and ever-timely lesson all too clear."--Kirkus Reviews “The sorrow and the pity of World War I haunt every page of this unsparing coming-of-age story set in Berlin during the war’s final days. Monika Schröder skillfully sketches in the fractured political background of a disintegrating imperial Germany. She doesn’t miss a beat in her fast-paced first-person narrative as sixteen-year-old Moritz copes with his family’s misfortunes, finds his calling, and discovers love.  I found the innocence of the meetings between Moritz and Rebecca particularly affecting, and because she happens to be Jewish, the story ends on a note of foreboding.  This is a memorable and instructive novel.”—Russell Freedman, Newbery-award winning author ofThe War to End All Wars: World War I