The Girl with the Red Balloon

By Katherine Locke

When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she's caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AW Teen
• Release date: Sep 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9780807529355

Katherine Locke

Katherine Locke lives and writes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she's ruled by her feline overlords and her addiction to chai lattes. Her day jobs always vary, but in the past, she's worked in nuclear weapons abolition activism, lead poisoning prevention and education, and food safety at a mushroom farm. She secretly believes most stories are fairy tales in disguise. She likes heroines with dirty mouths and heroes with boyish charm. Find her on Twitter @bibliogato!

Reviews for The Girl with the Red Balloon

[julienne_preacher · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An American teenager accidentally travels in time to East Berlin by a red balloon.I was intrigued by the idea. Unfortunately the outcome doesn't stand up to expectations. This is a lazy book: lazy world building (I have so many questions about the Magic...), lazy plotting and lazy characterization. The three main characters were a Jew, a Roma and a Lesbian, and that's pretty much what we learn about them. They have no personalities beyond "colorful" or "steady". Because of that, the romance is just... well, it's there and that's about it. There's actually no plot in this book either; most of the time nothing happens and nothing is revealed. There is a mystery, and that's the best part of the novel - in fact the villain is the most interesting character in the book, and I'd like to read their story instead of this uninteresting tripe. On the other hand, the novel was quite well written. If only the content was up to par...

[billycongo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought it was well written. You'd be surprised at how many books out there are badly written. Dan Brown, for instance. I love time travel books and movies in general. I could tell that it was written by a woman. There's character development instead of just plot plot plot. James Patterson, for instance. I like character development. There might have been a bit too much emphasis on the love story. This will work great as a movie, because it has something for both men and women.

[brangwinn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bringing two periods of history together in a time travel fantasy creates a masterful thriller. When Ellie grabs hold of a red balloon on a class trip to post Soviet Berlin, she finds herself in East Berlin a year before the wall came down, as she becomes a member of a group of magicians who secret people out of East Germany. But the story goes farther back than that, to when her grandfather was carried out of a Nazi extermination camp by a girl with a red balloon. The three periods of time are deftly woven together and I’m hoping to find out more about Ellie and her East German friends in the next book---I am assuming there will be another book. The reader is left wanting to know more.

[linyarai · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book really surprised me; my library was promoting the eBook so I gave it a shot and it was SO worth it. I loved the story and the romance and the idea of the balloons, but did NOT like the cliffhanger ending. Book 2 came out this month so I'm moving it to the top of my list.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was not aware of anything about this book. I think I decided to download it because it was on a book list or book recommendation somewhere. It is a young adult novel set in Berlin, Germany. It is the first in a series.
I grew to really like Ellie Baum, and Kai and Mitzi, the main characters in the book. While it is a bit of fantasy / magic, it really brings forth the question on what you would do if you could remake / change history. Would it be better or worse, or should you not try to change it?
This was an interesting take on the holocaust, and its repercussions on those who survived and future generations.
There is a 2nd book in the series which I will read to see how the story develops.
#TheGirlWithTheRedBalloon #KatherineLocke