Background information about the book
1. What's the time over there, Soccerman?
One of the complications Henni and Leo faced while emailing to each other was the time difference. Find out more about daylight saving times, time differences and how the authors managed to get the time right.
2. Writing the book
Heike sent the first email, writing from Leo’s point of view, and Elizabeth responded from Henni’s point of view. Over the next few months Elizabeth/Henni and Heike/Leo exchanged lots of emails. Find out the methods the authors used to organise these emails and keep track of the storyline.
3. Giving Henni and Leo their voice - Both authors had to get the right ‘look’ for the voice of their character. It had to look casual, as if the words were pouring straight from the brain onto the screen. How did they do it?
4. What was it like back then? - It's hard to imagine what it must have been like for people living back in the 1900s. Writing about history means a lot of reading. There may be a few sound recordings, photos, newspapers and documents of the time, but most information is found in books.
5. Choosing names - How the characters' names came about and choosing the book name...
6. Getting the right look - To the Boy in Berlin is a work of fiction but historical documents have been adapted to create a feeling of authenticity. Have a look at some of the historical documents that were made for the book as well as a few book cover design ideas the author and illustrator came up with.
