Parents' Guide to

A Night Divided

By Tracy Moore, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Sharp-eyed Cold War stunner has high intrigue, family drama.

Book Jennifer A. Nielsen Historical Fiction 2015
A Night Divided Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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age 11+

Based on 3 parent reviews

narutouzumaki
narutouzumaki Adult
January 5, 2021
age 17+

love this book

when i read this book i adored the story but my age rating is for the gory violence and people trapped like rats this book is to intense for kids under 13 but they have to be mature. the main character is female which is really good because most people think of men as the heroes of war but this shows that females also were heroes of war.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Catherine R.
Catherine R. Parent of 9, 12 and 15-year-old
February 13, 2018
age 9+

Food for thought

I read this book with my daughters (age 9 and 15) - it is tense and very exciting. Gerta is a great character and the author is masterful at painting a picture and capturing the anxiety and hopeless situation they find themselves in. From the very first page this book prompted discussions ranging from WW2, the Cold War and Communism to whether it’s ever justified to steal/lie or keep secrets. To anyone who enjoys this I would highly recommend “Cross my Heart” by Carmen Reid which is about a teenager (also female) in Belgium in WW2 and her time in the resistance. It is my older daughter’s favourite book.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Gerta's father and brother Dominique have just left East Berlin amid growing unrest to seek an apartment in the West, when the Berlin Wall is erected over the weekend. Now divided, with increasing suspicions about each family member's activities and neighbors and friends who can no longer be trusted, Greta, her mother, and her other brother Fritz must keep theirs heads down while they plot the best way to reunite their family, all the while debating the very notion of what it means to be truly free.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (18):

This powerful book humanizes historical events by creating a story about people's struggle to live with autonomy and their efforts to live honorably in an unjust system. A NIGHT DIVIDED is fast-paced and simply written, and it moves the complex story along in an engaging way without getting bogged down in the history. Author Jennifer A. Nielsen weaves in the geopolitical factors that led to the creation of the Berlin Wall and shows why people had divided loyalties -- to Germany, Russia, their own city, and even at times their own families.

The result is an incredibly thoughtful, provocative, and very human look at a distant moment in history that will raise interesting questions for readers about what it means to be free and how we define the good life, all with a deeply nuanced understanding of what it means to do the "right" thing in complicated situations where not only political alliances but lives, futures, and happiness all are at stake. But even if you weren't interested in any of that, it still offers a fascinating, suspenseful tale of a thoughtful, courageous 12-year-old girl's determination to escape an oppressive life for something better.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why historical fiction is so popular. What makes you want to read fictional stories set during real-life events?

  • Is it OK that, to do a little right, we have to do a little wrong? Why, or why not?

  • How do some of the families in A Night Divided define "a good life"? Is there such a thing as being "a little bit free"?

Book Details

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