Book Review: A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

 

Today I'm excited to talk about one of my favorite books: A Night Divided, by Jennifer A. Nielsen. If you haven't read it, here's a synopsis from Goodreads: "With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.

But one day, while on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Then, when she receives a mysterious drawing, Gerta puts two and two together and concludes that her father wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?" (Goodreads Page) 

Photo Credit: me :)

I've read this book several times now, and several times to my students. Here are some of my original thoughts from my first read, and my first read aloud:

Without a doubt, one of the best books I've ever read. I loved it!

ETA: read aloud to my fourth graders. They were on the edge of their seats the entire time, and completely loved the book! Reading it aloud was a totally different experience than reading it to myself. Fantastic.

The thing I love about this book is that it feels timeless. How is that possible with a historical fiction? I think it's because it's still so relevant. We're not that far gone from when the Berlin Wall came down (which I remember watching in awe, because I thought it would never happen) and anymore, it seems like it's not such a stretch to think that something like this could actually happen again. We like to think we're more "civilized" than that, but honestly, I highly doubt it. Something to think about.

This story is fast paced, with edge-of-your seat thrills. I remember reading it the first time wondering how on earth things were going to play out. I mean, I knew there was going to be a HEA, but I didn't know HOW it was going to happen. At times, I thought maybe there wouldn't be a happy ending. I worried about Gerta and Fritz. I was mad at Anna, Mama, Frau Eberhart, and Officer Muller. The funny thing is, no matter how many times I've read this book now, which is a lot, I still have those same feelings even though I know what happens! That's good writing, folks.

I'm currently reading this aloud to my fourth graders, and they LOVE it. I have yet to have a class who isn't completed invested in this book, and I love that. Again, good writing. My kids gasp and cheer in all the right places and they've made it so much fun to read to them. The end of read aloud time is the worst part of our day! I'll be honest, sometimes I skip other things because we're so into our book and can't bear to put it down. We're almost done with it. I think we'll finish next week. (I'll probably end up skipping some stuff so that we can!)

Honestly, I've lost count of how many times I've read this book. I haven't tracked it on Goodreads every time. What I do know is that every single time it has been a five-star read. I doubt that will ever change.

Jennifer has multiple middle grade historical fiction novels out there, plus three (four?) fantasy series. I've read a whole bunch of them, and highly recommend them all. Jennifer is an auto-buy author for me - I always buy two copies: one for me and one for my classroom library.

If you haven't read A Night Divided, I strongly suggest that you do!