Under the Same Stars

November 4, 2024
Three generations of teens find themselves while fighting for change in this inspiring historical mystery from Bray (the Diviners series). It’s 1939 in Kleinwald, Germany, and best friends Hanna and Sophie would rather fantasize about an ancient mythical entity’s purported matchmaking abilities than pay attention to world events—until Hitler invades Poland. In 1980, aspiring photographer Jenny and her preppy conservative family relocate from Dallas to West Berlin, where Jenny meets Lena, a queer German punk rocker who lives in a squat and vows to show smitten, closeted Jenny the “real” Berlin. And in 2020 Brooklyn, while navigating lockdown and learning about social justice movements, Miles agrees to help best friend (and secret crush) Chloe investigate a package from Chloe’s grandmother containing mini-cassettes and a scrapbook featuring two Kleinwald teens who disappeared in 1941. Bray’s intimate third-person narrative kaleidoscopes back and forth in time, interweaving the three story lines and highlighting their internal resonance. Though the setup is occasionally awkward, nuanced, gratifying character arcs and a harrowing, emotionally charged third act send this lengthy novel out on a high note. The cast is intersectionally diverse. Ages 12–up. Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary.

Starred review from December 15, 2024
Three groups of teens are connected by a painful, decades-old mystery. In 1940s Germany, best friends Sophie and Hanna believe in the magic of the Bridegroom's Oak, which is said to help people find true love. Hopeless romantic Sophie, in particular, takes comfort in the protection of the Dodauer Forest where the oak grows--until World War II becomes a violent reality that tests not only the girls' friendship but also their conceptions of duty and justice. In 1980s West Berlin, preppy American transplant Jenny is a fish out of water--until she meets German punk Lena, who urges her to rebel against society's expectations. And in 2020 Brooklyn, Miles is trying to adjust to the radical changes brought on by Covid-19. When his best friend, Chloe, is gifted with her grandmother's scrapbook, the pair uncover a trail of secrets linked to long-ago disappearances. Bray's immersive third-person narrative seamlessly navigates past and present, weaving together themes of power, remorse, forgiveness, and hope. She crafts her characters with detailed precision; their emotions feel as alive as each well-rendered historical setting. Through the lens of these young people's lives, Bray emphasizes how much we're connected, offering a powerful depiction of transformative storytelling as an act of resistance and a harbinger of the future. Most characters are white; Miles is Filipino and white. A breathtaking journey that will leave a lasting impression on readers' minds and hearts.(Historical mystery. 13-18)

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March 1, 2025
In this ambitious work, Bray alternates three seemingly disparate stories, briefly braiding them into one near the novel's end. In 1940s Germany, Sophie and Hanna are devotees of the Bridegroom's Oak, a hollow tree famed as a post box for exchanging love letters. As the Nazi regime becomes increasingly brutal and the girls work for the resistance, what better use for it than as a drop for forged documents? In the 1980s, overprotected Texan teen Jenny, who has moved with her family to West Berlin, takes on a new, rebellious life when she falls in love with punk band founder Lena, who is determined to pull off a dangerous rescue in East Berlin. And in 2020s Brooklyn, under COVID-19 lockdown, Miles and Chloe use their Zoom meetings to translate clippings and letters belonging to Chloe's German grandmother. The novel's strength lies in Bray's careful characterization of Sophie and Hanna and in the suspenseful life-or-death stakes of their story, generating momentum for the three-strand plot: how are the girls connected to characters in Berlin and Brooklyn? Thematic connections among the three milieux are patent, from fascist "making Germany great again" to perilously restrictive communist East Germany to the murder of George Floyd. Occasional peculiarities of expression ("one day, that fish who had been a boy would grow into a great whale") appear in writing that is generally sharply effective. Throughout, Bray stresses the value of resistance to "our flawed world's inhumanity, intolerance, and authoritarianism" by means of "acts both large and small." Deirdre F. Baker

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from February 1, 2025
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Libba Bray's masterful, heart-wrenching historical novel weaves together stories of love and resistance in three alternating time lines--World War II Germany, 1980 Berlin, and 2020 Brooklyn. Two 17-year-old best friends, Sophie and Hanna, disappear on Winter Solstice night, 1941, under the Bridegroom's Oak in their German village. Prior to their disappearance, Sophie, a romantic, held onto her belief in the matchmaking magic of the Bridegroom's Oak tucked away in nearby Dodauer Forest, even though her peers teased her for it. Hanna, pragmatic, athletic, and social, was more willing to participate in required girls' league activities but had secret messages of her own. Backtracking to 1939, their idyllic small town fractures after the German invasion of Poland. When SS Obergruppenf�hrer Jaeger and his soldiers take up residence, everyone must choose between loyalty and resistance. Family members and friends are set against one another in their tight-knit community where little goes unseen. And yet, this is a story full of love--first love, forbidden love, and a love between friends reminiscent of Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity (2012).In contrast, there's Jenny and Lena in the summer of 1980. Jenny Campbell's father moves the family from Dallas to West Berlin for his work. Jenny, 16, is a good girl, classical violinist, and photographer. Quickly drawn to the punks in the broken-down Kreuzberg neighborhood, she takes up with Lena, who lives in a warehouse squat. Lena gives Jenny a tour of the city, the Wall, and the building where David Bowie recorded her favorite song, "Heroes." Soon, Jenny is sneaking out to spend time with Lena and joining her band, Sophie Scholl, making it the "first all-girl punk band with violin." Lena's fury comes out in her songs, but what is at its root? Where is Lena's family? How did she end up alone? Even as their relationship deepens, Lena keeps secrets. But Jenny is naive; she doesn't sense the danger. Throughout, Jenny also visits her elderly neighbor, Frau Hermann, a retired trauma psychologist with bookshelves full of mythology and fairy tales. Frau Hermann tells Jenny The Tale of the Hare and the Deer, about two girls who save their kingdom from a mad king with the help of a magical tree. The tale reappears throughout the novel, growing darker, more fragmented, and tragic. It seems to offer clues to the fate of Sophie and Hanna. But fairy tales can be misleading. Flashing to a more modern moment, Miles is a Brooklyn high-school senior spending the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown playing online games with friends between Zoom classes. He is alone; one mom is a hospital nurse battling the virus, and the other is stranded in Europe. Bray's depiction of the first months of the pandemic is painfully realistic, grounded in loneliness, uncertainty, and isolation. When his estranged best friend, Chloe, asks for his help, Miles leaps at the chance to reconnect with her. Chloe's grandmother, Mormor, has sent a package of drawings and newspaper articles in German. Would Miles help her investigate and figure out why Mormor sent them? What they uncover wakes Miles up to his own potential, inspiring him to step up when the George Floyd protests explode across the borough.Untangling these threads to learn the truth of Hanna and Sophie's disappearance is absorbing and deeply moving. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a strand in a novel connecting significant periods in history is a brilliant way to make today's teens feel seen. They are living through extremely challenging times, and they face a difficult future. Bray goes one step further and offers her readers a way to navigate and even...