You Can't See the Elephants

Starred review from July 27, 2015
In a debut novel so real it hurts, German author Kreller depicts the frustrations of a 13-year-old girl who has trouble getting adults to see the truth happening under their noses. Mascha’s father always takes a few weeks off in the summer to grieve his wife, leaving Mascha with her grandparents in a close-knit small town. There she meets Max and Julia, two children covered with bruises. One day, when Mascha is outside the children’s house, she witnesses a scene so terrible that she has to tell someone. Mascha’s grandparents don’t want to listen, so she takes matters into her own hands. What starts as an act of salvation takes a nightmarish turn, and it is Mascha—not the true villain—who is shunned. Kreller’s terse prose, eloquently translated by Gaffney, captures the desperation and helplessness of a girl who just wants to do the right thing. Kreller deals with the topic of abuse honestly, conveying the emotional responses to horrific circumstances. Despite her reputation in the community, Mascha will emerge as a hero to readers, and her actions will prompt discussion and debate. Ages 10–up.

September 1, 2015
Seeing evidence that a neighbor's children are being abused, a young teenager looks for adult help and finds none in this disquieting German import. Summering with her grandparents in a quiet small town and largely left to her own devices, 13-year-old Mascha is shocked to see bruises and other wounds on the two children-Julia, 9, and 7-year-old Max-of the local car dealer. After later witnessing a violent scene through their window, she hastens to tell her grandma, who responds with a blanket denial: "They're good people. Everyone here knows that. Those things don't happen here!" Despite similar responses from other adults, she nerves herself for a 911 call but (realistically) is so nervous and inarticulate that she's dismissed as a prankster. In desperation, she kidnaps the children with a wild story about their parents being suddenly called away, locks them in an abandoned house, and struggles to keep them quiet and fed. Unsurprisingly, this ill-conceived scheme turns nearly to disaster when searchers find the supposed runaways. Kreller delivers a powerful tale centered on three young people who are out of their depth ("When Daddy whips us, he has a reason," insists Julia, fierce and secretive) and get no help from a community that, like most, values peace and privacy over all. Disturbingly plausible, definitely thought- and discussion-provoking. (Fiction. 12-14)

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November 1, 2015

Gr 5-8-How adults fail children is the essence of this novel translated from the German and originally set in Germany but recast in the American heartland for U.S. publication. Mascha, 13, has been spending summers with her grandparents since her mother's death seven years ago, but small-town life is stifling compared to the big city where she and her father live. When she accidentally witnesses a neighborhood boy being verbally and physically assaulted by his father, she questions her grandparents and other adults around her, all of whom advise her to mind her own business. The boy's father is a respected member of the community, and accusing him without proof would mean risking their own reputations. Mascha turns to her own father, who tells her someone else will take care of it; when she calls 911, her call is perceived as a prank. With no one else to stand up for the boy and his sister, Mascha devises a rash but well-intended plan to save them, a plan that quickly spirals out of control. Underlying this story of child abuse is Mascha's own story of emotional neglect by a father who, as she puts it, is content only when working and has no happiness left over for her. VERDICT Minimal descriptions of violence and a strong narrative thread make this a compelling read for preteens and teens.-Susan Stan, Professor Emerita of English, Central Michigan University

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2015
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Mascha is bored. The 13-year-old is spending the summer with her grandparents, and everyone in the neighborhood is either too old or too young to befriend, while those who are her age ignore her. But then she meets 9-year-old Julia and her 7-year-old brother, Max, and the three begin a tentative friendship. Quickly Mascha discovers her new friends are covered with suspicious bruises and cuts. Then she sees Max's hot-tempered father push him into a wall and realizes the two children are being abused. But when she tells her grandparents, they refuse to believe her. Indeed, no one in their small town wants to credit her story, though many suspect the truth. The two children's plight, it seems, is the elephant in the room that everyone pretends they can't see lest they upset the established order. Desperate to help, Mascha decides she will rescue the two children herself, but what can one young girl do? German journalist Kreller has written an affecting story about a universal problem that will resonate with a widespread audience. Readers will identify with Mascha's brave but arguably misguided efforts, while empathizing with the battered siblings. Winner of seven international awards, this important bookseamlessly translated by Gaffneydeserves an expansive readership.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2016
Every summer, lonely, Leonard Cohenlistening thirteen-year-old Mascha visits her grandparents while her father grieves the loss of her mother. Although she usually spends time interacting with her elderly neighbors, this year Mascha meets peculiar siblings Julia and Max at a playground. Seven-year-old Max frequently talks to an imaginary friend, while nine-year-old Julia sometimes stares off into space, tuning out the world. When massive bruises appear on Julia's torso and Mascha witnesses the siblings' father physically abusing Max, Mascha decides she must take action. Her grandparents and the rest of the neighborhood choose to ignore what is happening, and the police do not believe her; in this neighborhood such a thing couldn't happen has become the mantra of their small town. Even Julia denies the abuse: Daddy doesn't do anything to us, does he, Max? Desperate to save them, Mascha lures Julia and Max to an abandoned house and locks them in. Has she solved the problem or made it worse? While the translation occasionally feels stilted and the adults border on caricature, Kreller's debut novel is a grim and important look at the realities of child abuse and the ways in which even those who desire to help can be drawn into the cycle of harm. kazia berkley-cramer

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)