worldview | Weeksy Reviews

Imagine how you would feel if your parents picked you up from school, and whisked you away to a foreign country? No time to say goodbye to friends, unable to pack your favourite things – in fact, having many of your school possessions dumped in a bin, never to be seen again!

On top of this, imagine they expect you to change your name (just as they have), and to ‘remember’ where you went to school as somewhere you have never heard of – and to forget where home is. This is what happens to 11-year-old Noah Keller when his parents take him to the ‘other’ Germany to support his mother’s research studies. They even tell him his birthday isn’t really in March but in November.

‘Cloud and Wallfish’ by Anne Nesbet is an interesting tale which follows Noah/Jonah and his parents at a climactic time in history – as change begins in East and West Germany – nearing the end of the Cold War.

As Noah adjusts to a confusing new home, his mother deals with her studies, and his father ‘writes his novel’ while acting as the house-parent. There are lots of rules to take on board too – it seems that East Germany isn’t very accepting of Americans, who they label as brash and opinionated. Thus, Noah stays quiet and alone for some time, acceding to his parents’ requests to stay ‘under the communists radar’.

In telling Noah’s story, ‘Cloud and Wallfish’ outlines some of the historical changes happening at the time his family are there – based on the author’s personal experiences having lived in East Berlin in 1987, and again in 1989 just before the Wall came down.

Peering over from East Berlin – website details the history of the Berlin Wall – click on image

Noah’s struggles (loneliness and his own ‘Astonishing Stutter’) are buoyed in the story when he meets Cloud-Claudia; though he still also remains eager to go to school. However, that is not an easy thing to do.

Those who love a bit of history, or even just learning about other ways to view the world*, will enjoy ‘Cloud and Wallfish’. Episodes in Noah’s life are followed with some explanations, in ‘Secret File’ pages which provide an historical understanding of events.

It raises a lot of questions about the past, world politics and rules. It will also have you thinking about when it is wise to keep a secret – about yourself or others. And whether there is a time you need to reveal all you know – even if it may impact on others, because that’s what Noah has to consider time and again.

# Do you like historical fiction?

## Do Noah’s experiences and actions ring true for you? (i.e. do you think this is the way an eleven-year-old would really act?)

Recommended 10-14 years

For details about the fall of the Berlin Wall see: Fall of Berlin Wall: How 1989 reshaped the modern world

*considering a ‘worldview’

# Available as an ebook.

Smoky Mountain. Piles of trash. Kids as young as 3, sifting through rubbish, to retrieve anything of value. Life, as it is for many poor children from developing countries around the world, is grimly portrayed in Andy Mulligan’s tale, Trash.

The story is told from varying perspectives, dependent on whose point of view is most valuable at the particular stage of the story. There’s Raphael, a dumpsite boy who scours the trash to help support his extended family, since he lives with his aunt’s family and, of course, cousin Gardo. He is fairly street smart, with good survival skills, but not as confident as Gardo.

Gardo is Raphael’s best friend, and outwardly much bolder, though far more serious. They share everything, so of course, Raphael has tell Gardo of his discovery at the dumpsite. When the police come questioning the dumpsite kids about whether they had found anything unusual, they both know something sinister is afoot, and they seek help among their own.

Rat (or Jun-Jun) is their unlikely hero. Younger than both boys, he is infinitely more streetwise, and incredibly adept at detecting dangerous situations – as he moves effortlessly and invisibly about the slums of Behala.

Banded together with the discovery of the small leather bag in which the police are obsessively interested, they become engaged in an adventure of mystery, intrigue and danger. But together they are determined to right past wrongs and overcome some of the elements which rule their miserable existence in the slums.

Andy Mulligan has worked as a teacher in a school near the dumpsite in Manila, and has thus experienced the sounds, smells and squallor of the nearby slums, and reflected these in his book, Trash. At no time in the novel is it specified that it is set in Manila, however, and as he has pointed out, there are many such squallid locations found around the world. And in these dumpsites, there are thousands of children living the life portrayed in ‘Trash’ – collecting rubbish to survive in poverty.

Thus in this adventure, the reader has to struggle with the knowledge that though this a fictitious tale, it is based in what is a reality for many young children around the globe, through no fault of their own. Their daily struggles and how they cope is far removed from our own existence, told as it is through the eyes of young yet resilient children, simply after a better life.

As food for thought, it may also have great impact in the form of a movie, (which is meant to happen) and would be great reading for any young teen searching for challenge and adventure. For now here’s the book trailer… or listen to the author speak here.