Book Description: Berlin, August 1961. Sabine lives in a cramped apartment with her grandmother, mother, and older half-brother, Erich, in East Berlin where neighbors spy on each other, books are forbidden, and sometimes people disappear in the middle of the night...to the west. When Sabine discovers a forgotten underground bunker, she first uses it to escape her crowded home. After the Soviets build a barrier through the middle of Berlin, Sabine thinks of a new use for the Bunker. Could it take her family under the Wall to freedom? Or are their lives in more danger than ever?
My Review: Having read Book One in the Wall Series, Candy Bombers, I relished reading Book Two, Beetle Bunker.
Sabine is handicapped by polio but that doesn't put "the brakes" on her adventurous spirit. She, her Oma and her brother plus an "aunt and "uncle" are living in a small, cramped apartment in East Berlin.
Sabine is fighting the communist in her own quiet way while her aunt and uncle seem bent on making her join the communist youth group. While on one of her adventures she falls into a bunker. Low and behold! There is also a shell of an old Volkswagen Beetle! Sabine claims this bunker as her secret hideout. And with cramped quarters at home it's the perfect getaway/hideout.
Then the Soviets build a wall through the middle of Berlin. The wall doesn't just divide Berlin but it divides families and takes away the peoples freedom and dignity. Sabine decides it's time to escape. She and her friend, Willi, make a plan to tunnel their way out of this nightmare . . . making a way to escape for them and their families!
The adventure and excitement begin! And danger lurks at every corner! A fantastic 5 star read of history and adventure for youth and adults alike!
The clear and smooth way that Robert Elmer creates a story makes for a great lesson in learning about the way others lived and survived during hard war times.
*This book was provided for review by Zondervan*
