A Night Divided (Scholastic Gold)

By: Jennifer A. Nielsen

Narrated by: Kate Simses

From New York Times best-selling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west. With the rise of the Berlin Wall, 12-year-old Gerta finds her family divided overnight. 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 her 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?

©2015 Jennifer A. Nielsen (P)2015 Scholastic Inc.

Love this book!

Made me learn so much more about our world history! I would really recommend reading it

Quick moving and suspenseful

Tightly written historical suspense - and very well performed! Great characters, the suspense keeps tightening, the historical environment is top notch, doesn’t resort to cheap violence, and the narrator does a great job with voices, pacing, and inflection.

Mid 50s year old guy recommends.

Best book ever

This book is engaging a page turner and now is my favorite book! It has twists and it's supercalifragilisticexpalidocouse

read it in 24 hours, couldn't put it "down"

I seriously thought this book was amazing and I would love to meet the author since I live in Utah as well!

Excellent story

what a wonderful story, intense and suspenseful. It made me think and kept me enthralled. Thank you.

MUST READ!!

This book is a MUST READ! Loved it so much I finished it in one day. By far my favorite book by her. The plot was so historically interesting and captivating I couldn’t stop listening!!

Good read

I couldn’t “put it down”. Like a good book, I wanted to know what happens next. I would highly recommend this book.

A night divided

This book is one of my favorites. I am 12 years old and this book had kept me at the tip of my seat to see what would happen next. I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a book about historical fiction, and excitement.

An enjoyable read

This is a well written story with a lot of detail in each character. The struggle of living in East Berlin is difficult at best. For a family that is divided, the difficulty is exponentially increased.

This story is told by a young girl who wants to reunite her family. She is frightened an describes the worries with a clear story. Escaping from East Berlin was a life or death activity, it wasn't something that could be attempted multiple times. There is a great level of maturity in this young girl, far beyond what one would expect from her age. The story is perfect for a family listen. The story even has a suspenseful timeline and a sense of urgency. I think this book could easily be finished across 2-3 days with a family sitting round the room.

Highly recommend.

Great listen with your daughter

My daughter, age 7, and I listened to this in the car to start but got so engrossed we found opportunities to listen elsewhere - doing laundry, cleaning up, coloring/drawing pictures of Gerta, the wall, etc. We talked a lot about what we thought might happen and I was surprised how much she understood and could theorize about what would happen next. Perfectly written for younger and older audiences to enjoy.