Is it?! I was sure you knew, because Kästner’s Lottie is an intelligent, wild, rude girl with a good heart and plenty of mischiveous energy, while her twin Luise is a quiet, studious, sensitive straight-a student and a bit of a wall flower.

If you have a few hours to spare, why not read the most recent English translation “Lisa and Lottie”? Kästner is one of the Great Children’s book authors, very funny, loving the absurd, and with a very distinct narrator’s voice, but he always takes children, their emotions and reality very seriously, for example when talking about social inequalities, bitter poverty, or, in this case, the injustice of parents deciding for their children to never know their mother or father after splitting up.
By the way, Kästner was a fascinating writer. Strong pacifist and humanist fighting against the rise of the Nazis, beautiful poet, and his adult novel “Fabian” breaks your heart.