Today at Kirkus Reviews...

...I've put together a roundup of recent titles about people living in the shadow of the Berlin Wall:

It deals with suspicion and trust; it explores what it might be like to try to form a friendship and partnership in that sort of environment; it touches on the things we choose to share with each other and on the things we choose to hold back, both for our own protection and for the protection of our loved ones. As I read, I felt a sense of remarkable distance from the characters—but by the end, I was crying, and it’s stayed with me for all of this time, which says a lot.