Cloud and Wallfish

Candlewick Press, 2016

One ordinary day, Noah’s parents tell him his name isn’t really Noah, his birthday isn’t really in March, and his new home is going to be East Berlin — on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

East Germany seems the least likely place in the world for a kid from America with a lot of secrets of his own (and an Astonishing Stutter) to make a friend, but then Noah meets Cloud-Claudia, the lonely girl who lives one floor down. Noah and Cloud-Claudia have only a half-imaginary map and a shared fondness for codes and puzzles to guide them in a world where walls — and the Wall — are closing in.

[Foreign edition: Oblak a vel'ryba (published by Fragment, Slovakia, 2018)]

HONORS AND REVIEWS:

  • California Book Award, 2017 (gold medal, Juvenile category)

  • Northern California Book Award, 2017 (Children’s Literature/Older Readers)

  • Middle Grade Book of the Year, 2017 (Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA)

  • 2017 Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year list

  • Junior Library Guild selection

  • ALSC Notable Children’s Book for 2017 (Association for Library Service to Children)

  • Cooperative Children’s Book Center best-of-the-year list (“CCBC Choices 2017″)

  • Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2017 (Children's Book Council) 

  • Starred review from Horn Book: “This is edgy, dramatic, and emotionally rich historical fiction that provides a vivid look into an extraordinary moment in history.”