Johannes Herwig: Halber Löwe

Halber Löwe (engl.: Half Lion) 
Gerstenberg 2023.

Sascha has just one more year until graduation from school. In his spare time, he hangs out with his buddies in a condemned house whose bay window was once graced by a splendid lion head that is now damaged. The half lion is a symbol of the chaotic times in Leipzig following the fall of the Berlin wall. With the downfall of the East German system at the beginning of the 1990s, people also lost a part of their identity. Feeling disoriented, the boys drink too much beer and turn to tests of courage for that special thrill. When one of their dares goes wrong, Sascha starts thinking: What does he want from life? Should and can everything continue down this road? Johannes Herwig draws a portrait of a complex personality: On the outside Sascha plays the tough guy, on the inside he is a responsible, empathetic young man and would do everything for his little sister and his mother. But is he ready to take the rap for his own actions? In equal parts a raw and a tender coming-of-age novel with high potential for reader identification, especially for boys.

Grade 8 - 11