In Berliners, Vesper Stamper has given readers a glimpse into the stark and painful division of Berlin after World War II, and she has used the division of twin brothers to emphasize this intense period of history. Her story is well-paced, rich with character and conflict, and full of meaning in a world torn by deep political rifts.

Twins Rudi and Peter have grown up in the Soviet sector of Berlin, and as they look to their high school graduation, they see the world very differently. Peter, artistic, confident, and popular, chafes under the limited and controlled life in eastern Berlin, especially when he can walk into the American sector and see thriving shops and restaurants and people living freely. Rudi has always lived in Peter's shadow, craving his brother's popularity and easy successes. He sees his future as one of devotion to the Party, obedience to the expectations, and protection from the dangerous western influences everyone has warned him about. When their parents separate, Rudi's father takes him to western Berlin, while Peter stays in the east with his mother, but when the Berlin Wall is erected overnight, the brothers must decide what they want and what they will risk to have it.

Stamper's story begins in a gentle way, paced slowly and quietly to allow readers to "see" life in eastern Berlin, feel the lack of consumer items, the loss of freedom, the feeling of being watched, questioned, and evaluated by the Stasi, or secret police, who make sure everyone remains in line with the Party's expectations. As the story develops slowly and quietly, readers see the turmoil in the brothers. Rudi's resentment of his perfect brother grows real through average, daily interactions, and Peter's frustrations with the Party are equally real. Once the stakes reach their highest pitch and both boys are at risk, Stamper draws on this deep characterization to create even more suspense.

Readers will walk away from this novel with a real, personal sense of what life in post-war Berlin was like and a painful grasp of how deep the divisions went once Berlin was divided. Even more, they will have seen the growth of two teens through terrible hardship. Stamper shows readers that we are all able to choose, even when choice has been limited. And those choices determine our trajectories, Hardship can make people bitter and resentful or ambitious and driven. Rudi and Peter are excellent examples of how differently life can develop based on choices.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy YA/ new adult novels set in history and for teachers looking for additional titles to bring the post-war period to life in their classrooms. This would be an excellent novel to accompany a study of the years following WWII, but even readers who do not love historical fiction will be drawn to the layers of conflict in this story.

Walls can separate a family. Is the wall a person’s past? Is the wall an ideology? Or is the wall a literal wall? As you read this coming of age novel about two brothers, you are thrown directly into Berlin during the Cold War. Life under the Soviets is different than the West Berlin sectors. As you read, you see characters struggle with what freedom and life mean as well as the consequences.