Manuel Zschunke

In the summer of 2018, novelist Tanja Arnheim and web designer Jerome Daimler have a seemingly ideal long-distance relationship in the heat of Berlin, the idyll of an inherited bungalow in the Hessian Main Valley and many train journeys in between. But the carefully cultivated balance of trust and detachment between the two hyper-reflective millennials is shaken when Tanja realizes on the night of her thirtieth birthday that the relationship could become existential.

Eleven-year-old Linh shows great grace under pressure. When her mother, who’s raising her kids on her own, has to return unexpectedly to Vietnam, Linh looks after her little sister Tien and the family restaurant on her own. Of course, no one is supposed to find out, not the school, not the neighbours, and definitely not child protective services. But Linh’s biggest problem has red hair, a telescope and a sly grin: Pauline. The daredevil from across the street has the whole neighbourhood under surveillance and can’t imagine anything cooler than a life without parents. When Pauline blackmails the Vietnamese sisters into starting a gang with her, the three girls set off on a daring adventure.