Sixteen-year-old Ada lives with her mother, Mutti,
and grandmother, Omi, on the west side of Berlin. Eighteen-year-old Stefan
lives with his grandmother, Grossmutter, on the east side. Ada is allowed to
visit Stefan four times a year. The visits started when she was two and by age 12
she was in love with him.
Ada’s life is free on her side of Berlin. Her family
squats in some derelict apartments with shoddy heat and water, but all free. She
roams the night, down different streets on a borrowed bike and no one ever
questions her. Her current Cleopatra style hair is pink like Bazooka bubblegum attesting
to her ability to purchase a variety of goods with money she makes at a
Catholic daycare.
Stefan lives in a concrete apartment that has been
assigned to his family. He is currently an apprentice at the ice factory as
assigned. Although, his grades qualify him to do more exciting things such as
being a cosmonaut like his late grandfather, his study of the stars is free and
no curfew limits his use of the tiny balcony.
To visit Stefan, Ada must stand in line at the
border marker and go through a couple of security checkpoints before passing to
the other side. The body searches can be intense and she must hide contraband
like maps in her shoes.
Stefan will have to make “the leap” as Ada refers to
it in order to be with her. The leap includes scaling two different razor-wired
fences, weaving through either the surface barriers called asparagus grass or
the anti-vehicle barriers called hedgehogs, passing by 24/7 illuminated strip,
crossing an access road and control strip, stepping over the anti-vehicle crash
barrier and then finally climbing the wall.
All this weaving and scaling will have to be done
while guards try to shoot you dead. They could be aiming at you from the watchtowers
that are spaced 250 meters apart. Or they could be awaiting you on the
footpaths as they patrol on an hourly schedule. Wherever they hide, they do not
seem as dangerous as the beautiful Ada who tempts him.
Set in 1983, “Going Over” by Beth Kephart is highly
engaging. There is more involved than the Berlin Wall escape for young adults.
Readers also meet 4-year-old Savas from one of the many Turk families brought into
Germany after WWII to restart the economy. Oh, and I forgot to mention that
pink-haired Ada is also a graffiti artist.
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