Common Sense Media Review
By Tracy Moore
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sharp-eyed Cold War stunner has high intrigue, family drama.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
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Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 4 parent reviews
Based on 24 kid reviews
Kids say the book offers a thrilling and educational glimpse into Cold War-era Berlin, focusing on themes of family separation and the yearning for freedom. Despite its intense moments and some violent descriptions, readers feel it is suitable for mature younger audiences, with many praising the strong character development and suspense that keeps them engaged.
- educational themes
- character development
- intense suspense
- suitable for older kids
- historical context
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
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?
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
- Author :
- Genre : Historical Fiction
- Topics : Adventures , Friendship , History
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Scholastic Press
- Publication date : August 25, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 336
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : October 9, 2025
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