Erich Kästner

The classic book that inspired the beloved movie The Parent Trap, Lisa and Lottie are identical twins who only discover the other exists when they meet at summer camp. They become fast friends, and, once they determine they really are sisters, nine-year-old Lisa from Vienna—bold, with a head of curls—and Munich's buttoned-up, braid-wearing Lottie hatch a bold plan: to switch plans and each meet the parent they've never known. Soon, Lisa's father is wondering why his daughter no longer loves stuffed pancakes, while Lottie's mother can't figure out how her daughter forgot to cook. At the center of this heartwarming and comical tale is a mystery: How did their parents split up, and why did they also split up Lisa and Lottie? And, when the adults finally find out they've each got the wrong girl—will the sisters have to split up all over again?

Reprint of the classic children's mystery, first published in 1929.