Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken
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- 8,99 €
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- 8,99 €
Publisher Description
“A heartbreaking and bittersweet novel about the need for queer joy even in the midst of the horrors of war. The ending had me in tears.”—Malinda Lo, New York Times bestselling and National Book Award–winning author of Last Night at the Telegraph Club
For fans of Ruta Sepetys and Malinda Lo, a heart-wrenching queer historical YA romance set in the Swing Youth movement of World War II Berlin
Charlotte Kraus would follow Angelika Haas anywhere. Which is how she finds herself in an underground club one Friday night the summer before World War II, dancing to contraband American jazz and swing music, suddenly feeling that anything might be possible.
Unable to resist the allure of sharing this secret with Geli, Charlie returns to the club again and again, despite the dangers of breaking the Nazi Party’s rules. Soon, terrified by the tightening vise of Hitler’s power, Charlie and the other Swingjugend are drawn to larger and larger acts of rebellion. But the war will test how much they are willing to risk—and to lose.
From the critically acclaimed author of Who I Was with Her, this beautifully told story of hope, love, and resistance will captivate readers of Girl in the Blue Coat and Last Night at the Telegraph Club.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Starting in 1938 and stretching through the end of WWII, this atmospheric Berlin-set story by Tyndall (Who I Was with Her) follows 15-year-old Charlotte Kraus as she immerses herself in the growing underground Swing culture. When Charlie's best friend and longtime crush Angelika "Geli" Haas introduces her to the swing kids—jazz-loving teenagers who embrace contraband British and American music, privately declaring their opposition to the Nazi party's conformist values—Charlie is immediately taken with their joyful and fierce covert rebellion. Charlie and Geli, joined by Minna, who is Jewish, and Renate, who is deaf in one ear, become regulars in the free-spirited underground scene. Though still enamored with Geli, Charlie embarks on an intimate blossoming relationship with another young woman, while the war brews in the background. Supporting characters—including the story's clearly telegraphed villain—are thinly developed, and clunky, expository dialogue occasionally stalls forward momentum. Nevertheless, Tyndall artfully blends historical fiction and queer romance with the increasingly grim details of life under the Third Reich to generate an intensely heartfelt tale of high-stakes rebellion that will sweep readers all the way to the novel's gut-wrenching conclusion. All characters cue as white. Ages 14–up.
