Dreaming in Black & White

by Reinhardt Jung, Anthea Bell

After falling asleep, Hannes is transported to 1930s Germany during the era of the Nazis and experiences what life was like as a persecuted person during that time as he struggles with a disability and the fear that the Nazis do not think him worthy of living in their society.

Genres: Fiction, Holocaust

112 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2000

About the author

Reinhardt Jung was born in Germany in 1949. After graduating from school, he worked as a journalist and advertising copywriter in Berlin. From 1974, he worked with an international children's organization before becoming head of children's broadcasting in Stuttgart in 1992. Reinhardt Jung was married with two daughters.

Reviews

[Jsinclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yikes! This is an intense historical fiction book that relays the horrors of being a young man with a phyiscal disability growing up in a Nazi Germany. Although he is German, he is considered deformed and placed in the same category as his good friend Sarah who is Jewish and sent "away".

The author takes an artful approach with flashbacks from a boy in present day to "back then", in a spirit of reliving a reincarnated past as this German boy. Although, the emotions of the time are implied and can be felt through the sheer panic in which it is written, I found it to be some what disconnected and potentially confusing for lower level readers (perhaps this has something to with the fact that this book is translated from German). However, this book could be an enrichment piece for a student who would like to get more of a "feel" for what it must have been like to be a child in the day of Hitler's reign.

[Kristin Eoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very fast and easy book to read, but it was kind of weird and had a sudden ending that didn't explain anything. I was hoping for more questions to be answered at the end, but it just ended abruptly without many explanations. The narrator poses a lot of rhetorical questions that are never answered.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Very short, and very powerful. Remember, it wasn't just Jewish people who were deemed unworthy to live among the Aryans. And the author's notes point out that even today too many people are prejudiced against people with disabilities.

FotL Chanute.

[Caro · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hard hitting theme, in a surreal setting, but written in a simplified form.

[Rachel Selland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be an ideal book for a text set! It follows a boy named Hannes Keller, who is restricted to walking with crutches and has a slight stuttering problem. It goes back and forth between his dreams and reality. In his dreams, which he refers to as "back then", he is living in 1930's Germany. Hannes is grouped with the Jews and social misfits and claimed as a life not worth living because of his disability. The dreams continually become more and more real, when his parents become concerned. It gives kids an interesting and informative perspective on what it was like to live back then in those conditions and rules under The Third Reich. I would suggest for kids' ages 9-14.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea behind this book more than its execution. Admittedly it’s written for young readers (the product description suggests a reading as of 9-12 for this book) which is probably why I was dissatisfied by it hence the low star-rating. What he does is fine, there’s just not enough for me. I think it was a brave book for a German to write and all credit to him.

You can read my full review on my blog here.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found it a little confusing at times since the story takes place mostly in Hannes's dreams. It was a disturbing and unsettling story about the treatment of Jews and the disabled in Germany during WWII.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This haunting short novel explores the Holocaust from a rarely told perspective. Following a school history assignment, Hannes, a German boy, is disturbed by dreams that transport him back to the 1930s. There, he is persecuted by fellow students and teachers because Hannes is disabled, and like...

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heart breaking tale that is not limited to the young audience on which it is based as well as aimed.

[daniela ferreira · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars