The House on Schellberg Street

by Gill James

WHERE IS HOME? Renate Edler loves to visit her grandmother in the house on Schellberg Street. She often meets up with her friend Hani Gödde who lives nearby. This year, though, it is not to be. Renate finds out a terrible secret about her family. She has to leave behind her home and her friends and become somebody she never thought she could be.The house on Schellberg Street needs to stay strong. Will it and those who work in it be strong enough?Will Renate ever feel at home again? And what of those left behind?

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2014

About the author

Gill James writes novels for middle grade and young adults and short fiction for everyone. Her current work consists of a cycle of novels set mainly in Nazi Germany and of some texts of experimental fiction.

She is published by Crooked Cats, Tabby Cat Press, The Red Telephone and Butterfly. She is an associate lecturer in Creative Writing at Salford University, UK, where she formerly worked as a senior lecturer. She has published several academic papers.

Her stories are published on Litro, CafeLit, Alfie Dog, Ether Books and in several anthologies.

She offers workshops on creative writing, book-building, creative writing in other languages and the Holocaust and life in Nazi Germany.

Reviews by Gill can be found in Armadillo Magazine, IBBY, Troubador, GoodReads, Amazon and on her own web site.

Member of the Society of Authors, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Literature Wales and the National Society of Writers in Education, Gill has an MA in Writing for Children and PhD in Creative and Critical Writing

She edits for Bridge House Publishing, CaféLit, Chapeltown Books and The Red Telephone.
Before becoming a writer and an academic she taught modern languages for 23 years in various schools and has continued to make school visits as a writer of fiction for children and young adults.

Reviews

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this is a very well researched, authentic historical novel, I felt that Renate was a character modern young people (and older people too!) could immediately relate to. When life is seemingly going well for Renate, she is still struck with an inner voice insisting she is not good enough and that she will never be able to escape her fate. Through Renate, the novel also explores questions of identity that I believe are still difficult to individually answer for many people who are not sure where they're supposed to fit into the world.

The true stories behind this fictionalisation give the novel extra power and poignancy. I would definitely recommend this story.

[K.B. Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating and thought-provoking read. Holocaust books that I've read in the past have been through the eyes of adults. In this book we experience it mainly through the round robin letters of a group of school girls who slowly become aware of some of what's going on but also, increasingly conscious of the police state they're in, trying to put a positive spin on their lives. The two main characters are a "Jewish" girl who didn't even know she was Jewish who is sent to England and a German girl who risks her life to help the special needs children in a secret school. There were a lot of characters and if I read it again, I'd keep a crib sheet so I could keep track but certainly worth a read.

[I. Merey · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the heart of this story is words--- letters, sent in notebooks, going around and around. A group of German school girls send the notebook to each other, adding a letter each time. The contents cover day-to-day triumphs, disappointments, family, love, illness, work --and the mounting tension and eventual horror of life in the Third Reich.

Threading in and out of the letters are two main storylines: One follows Renate, a German girl whose life turns upside down when she is told she must immediately move to England. Though they were not observing and she didn't know it, her grandmother and mother are Jewish, and life in Germany is no longer safe for her. Thrust into a totally new life and school, where she does not speak the language, Renate experiences something of a crisis. How can something she wasn't even aware of affect her so much and tear her family apart? Her emotional turmoil only acerbates once Germany and England go to war, and her 'old home starts bombing her new one.' Then there's Hani (Johanna), back in Germany--Renate was her best friend, until her friend mysteriously disappeared--and the story the adults provide doesn't add up. Even more mysterious is Renate's grandmother's house, on Schelberg Street. Though her parents have told her to stay away from it, a random encounter draws Hani into a secret: the house is being used as an underground school for special needs children, and she decides she wants to help....

'Schelberg Street' is an authentic recording of what regular young girls growing up in Hitler's Third Reich might have seen, thought, felt, feared, and experienced. Patiently, Gill James weaves the story of the two girls and the threads of letters together, until we see their true connection, and all the paths their lives have taken. Extra care was taken, to give those little touches that make life German (or English)--those things we take for granted, until they are gone. A well-researched, thoughtful read that captures how ordinary people might react to extraordinary circumstances...

[Georgina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is both an extraordinary book and quite ordinary, However the ordinary letters of the young teenagers writing to one another are set against the background of Nazi Germany and the impact on the lives of ordinary people during that period. One of the girls has Jewish ancestry and with her mother they seek refuge in the UK. Meanwhile, against all odds and dangers, her grandmother allows her house on Schellberg Street to be used for the children needing special education after their school closes. We can follow all these stories through the letters and fictional accounts. These letters and the school are based in reality while Gill James adds the fictional extras needed to make this story detailed and with character interest and tension. A very good read with insight into the lives of those living under Nazi rule. There is a resilience and desire to do good while under threat among many of the ordinary people living in that place. I am looking forward to reading more in this series.

[Sheena Billett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshingly different account of World War II Germany through the eyes of a group of school girls.
I found this a fascinating read, and was impressed by the amount of detailed research that must have gone into writing this book. Each of the girls has a different story to tell as we follow their progress into young adulthood. The friendship between Hani and Renate, the main characters, was gripping right to the end. A brilliant resource for schools studying World War II.

[Cheese · Rating 5 out of 5]

very beautiful thought provoking novel

This is an author who is completely in control of her subject matter, the time period and lively cast of characters are all perfectly presented to create a powerful story.

[Paula R C R. C. Readman · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could give this book a 41/2 I would. The research that has gone into the book is worth 5 stars alone. The reason for my 41/2 stars is because the book covers a subject which is both horrifying and sad. The treatment of the Jew during the Second World War has been well documented both in nonfiction and fiction. This book is well written and is great for the YA reader, but not for me, as l read for enjoyment and the subject matter is sad and depressing. I enjoyed the characters and the way the book was written in a series of letters and through a series of different points of view from both England and Germany.
A YA will learn a lot from this book, and have a greater understanding of the suffering felt by the Jews and their families and friends. I learnt most of my information as a YA in the 1970's watching a TV programme called 'World At War' the images that l saw on it still haunt me today, which is why it is a subject l shy away from when looking a book to read for entertainment.

[Misha Herwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on real events, this YA crossover novel tells the story of a group of German schoolgirls who start a round robin letter at the start of WW2. The author has based her fiction on the actual letters written by the girls which because they are aware that they must not say too much concentrate on the more mundane aspects of their lives while at the same time giving us plenty of scope to read between the lines. Interlaced with the letters are the stories of Hanni and Renate. Hanni works with a group who run a special school in the house on Schelberg Street, again this is based on fact, while Renate is one of the children who came to England on the Kindertransport.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend to devour books based during WWII, and this was no exception. From the first page you're pulled into the atmosphere, and sense of what's to come. This is a very moving story, very difficult to put down.

[Gillian Polson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book especially as it was based on a true story.