I’m so excited to share that HMH Versify will be publishing my next YA historical novel-in-verse, THE MOST DAZZLING GIRL IN BERLIN!

I have been working on this project for a long time, but I continue to love it as much as I did when I began the very first draft. The Weimar Republic was a fascinating and complex era, and Berlin was most decidedly the hub of its universe. Finding out what it was like to live then and there–especially in the queer community in Schöneberg–totally captured my heart. I hope it captures readers’ hearts too!

For any other writers (especially those writing historical fiction) who might want to know how long my projects have taken me:

• I wrote my first draft of (a very different version of) WHITE ROSE in 2005, and it was published in 2019 (14 years).
• I wrote my first draft of (a very different version of) THE MOST DAZZLING GIRL IN BERLIN in 2013, and it will be published in 2022 (9 years).

Conclusions:

1. Some things take time.
2. If you love a project, never give up.
3. I AM GETTING FASTER!

Last week, I shared a post of my path following the White Rose in Munich on my recent trip to Germany. One of the other stops on my trip was Berlin, which had nothing to do with the White Rose, but which gave me a dash of Weimar Republic I was looking for.

First off, traces of history are hard to find in modern-day Berlin, rebuilt after about 80% of the city was destroyed in WWII and then modernized again after the fall of the Berlin Wall. So sometimes a hint means “[XYZ] used to be here,” where [XYZ] was once a cabaret, the most popular cafe in town, or an old dance hall.

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Sometimes hints can be found in actual items from back in the day. There are several vintage and antique shops in Schöneberg, and I also got to visit the Saturday flea market at the Rathaus.

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Just walking around the neighborhood provided glimpses of what once was, even though most of these structures have at least been partially rebuilt.

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(Literal) signs of some of the more famous residents still exist today as well. I’d made a point of booking in the Hotel Sachsenhof, where the poet Else Laske-Schüler used to live, but other famous residents in the neighborhood included writer and director Billy Wilder and writer Christoph Isherwood.

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But there were a couple of places that went virtually untouched and still exist today with much of that century-old detail. One such place is the Einstein Cafe, an art nouveau villa that now serves excellent meals with loads of ambience.

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Another is Clärchens Ballhaus, a still-active restaurant and dance hall that makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. There’s been talk of the place switching hands or closing down, but I certainly hope it remains for years to come.

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Overall, it’s not easy digging for history in a city that’s been through so much, but it was definitely worthwhile to find those small traces that remain.

Back when I was doing my initial research for White Rose, I visited Munich and Ulm a few times, both to speak to experts and spend time in the archives and to get a feel for some of the important sights themselves.

This summer, I was in Germany to do some research for a couple of different projects, so I got to spend some time in Munich once more, visiting a couple of newer museums/exhibits, and donating a copy of White Rose to the Weiße Rose Stiftung, a fantastic organization at the university that houses an (updated!) exhibit and organizes events to keep the group’s legacy alive.

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It’s always chilling to visit sites of historical significance, especially those where something so important happened, and I made a point (as I did other times I’ve visited) to stop, think, remember. What were Sophie and Hans thinking that day? Do students passing through these halls today think of their legacy every so often?

I also got to visit a few other sites important to White Rose history, including the Justitzpalast (Palace of Justice) where the trials were held, the apartment building that once housed Sophie and Hans’s flat, the Ostbahnhof (East Train Station) where Sophie bade farewell to the boys when they left for the front, and the site of the former Wittelsbacher Palais (Wittelsbach Palace), where the Gestapo interrogations took place.

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I’ve previously visited the Perlacher Forst cemetery beside the Stadelheim Prison where White Rose members were executed, and didn’t make it back there this time, but it’s of course every bit as somber a place as expected.

The ghosts from the war are never far from the surface in Germany, no matter how much is rebuilt. Some of those remnants have been left as a reminder, like at the Wunden der Erinnerung (Scars of Remembrance) wall around the corner from the university.

Plenty of other signs lie underfoot, like the Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) placed in memory of Jewish victims of the Nazis in front of buildings where they used to live.

Moreover, these signs infuse the air, capturing the voices and memories of those whose lives ended too soon, whispering to those passing by today and into the future, begging us not to forget, begging us, Never again.