Until the Stars Tremble
Bis die Sterne zittern

Herwig cover
Gerstenberg Verlag
June 2017 / 253pp
Children’s & Young Adults’

This book is outside of the five-year window for guaranteed assistance with English language translation. We suggest getting in touch with the relevant funding body for an informal conversation about the possibility of support. Please refer to to our  recommendations page for books that are currently covered by our funding guarantee.

review

Set in Leipzig during the late 1930s, Until the Stars Tremble explores the adventures and exploits of one of the Leipzig Meuten, a rebellious group whose aim is to undermine the Nazi hold on the city and champion an alternative to the Hitler Youth. The story follows its teenage protagonist Harro making friends, falling in love and finding ways to deliver blows to the Nazis. 

The novel opens with a dramatic episode in which Harro is threatened by Hitler Youths for not saluting the Nazi flag hanging above his street. He is rescued by his neighbour, Heinrich, and a group of kids who turn out to be one of many groups of politically engaged youths operating throughout the city. Harro joins the group and embarks on a personal journey which tests just how much he is prepared to risk to stand up for his beliefs. 

Johannes Herwig writes with great emotional sensitivity and depth, conveying the rawness and intensity of Harro’s experiences. Until the Stars Tremble succeeds in bringing out the conflicts and tensions that are universal to growing up as well as highlighting the extreme historical circumstances Harro and his friends are living through, in a context that has not been explored in fiction before. 

about the author

Johannes Herwig nació en Leipzig en 1979. De niño sabía ya que quería ser escritor. Estudió sociología y psicología y fundo en Dresde la galería de arte cinematográfico Phase IV, antes de centrarse en su verdadera vocación poniéndose a trabajar en su novela sobre los Meuten de Leipzig.

rights information

Derechos de traducción disponibles en:
Gerstenberg Verlag (Alemania)
Contacto: Simone Klussmann
s.klussmann_gerstenbergRights@aol.com
www.gerstenberg-verlag.de

translation assistance

Applications should be made to the Goethe-Institut.

share this recommendation

Share this on twitter, facebook or via mail.

All recommendations from Spring 2018