A Night Divided by Jennifer Nielsen

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0545682444/ref=nosim?tag=beyondwordsle-20

Written by a New York Times Best Selling Author.

Overview:  Middle schoolers and their parents generally love this historical fiction thriller that is set in the near-past: East Berlin and East Germany during the Cold War.

It tells the exciting story of Gerta and her struggles to escape East Berlin in the early 1960's and rejoin her family on the other side of the dangerous and forbidding Berlin Wall. The Wall went up almost overnight in 1961, trapping Gerta, one brother, and her mother on one side and her father and older brother on the other.  Three years later, 12-year old Gerta gets a clue that her father wants them to try and escape and come west.  However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

Age level and length:   Interest level is mainly grades 6-8, but the novel is relatively short and easy to read, so it is accessible to younger readers. This is an exciting suspense novel; many readers cannot wait to see how it turns out.  This needs several reading sessions, probably taking a total of about 4-5 hours for the average 7^th grader to finish.  Our bundle also has one complete novel test with key, one mid-point quiz w/key, one Word Search, and one historical enrichment lesson called "Stranger than Fiction: The Berlin Wall". The test takes 30 minutes or less. The quiz and enrichment lessons should take 20 minutes or less. 

Maturity or Political Issues: No issues.   No romantic or intimate situations; novel focuses on adventure and survival, making it appealing to boys as well as girls.   There are no violent acts directly described, though there is a sense of fearful suspense throughout much of the story.   No political agenda is advanced -- just the desire to escape a totalitarian Communist society and live in freedom.

Additional Considerations: Adults who vaguely remember the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 will also find this a fascinating read.  This is a neglected historical era that most middle schoolers know little or nothing about.  Many kids have visited Europe, and they are amazed to read about these dangerous events that happened relatively recently in Europe. The story also focuses on love of family and loyalty, an added bonus in this gem of a book.   If a student has some historical context, this is a better read. Therefore, we strongly recommend reading our enrichment lesson, “Stranger than Fiction: The Berlin Wall”  before reading this book – or, finding another historical introduction.