A Night Divided

Historical Fiction

by: Jennifer A. Nielsen

From NYT bestselling 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, 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?



Reading Level Information: Lexile level810, ATOS Level 4.7, Interest level MG

Book Level

Book level represents the difficulty or readability of the text.

  • ATOS book levels range from 0.1 (least difficult) to 20.0 (most difficult).
  • Lexile® scale ranges from, below 200L for beginning-reader materials to above 1600L for advanced materials.

Interest Level

The interest level relates to the content and age appropriateness of a book. AR BookFinder uses these interest levels:

  • LG (Lower Grades, K–3)
  • MG (Middle Grades, 4–8)
  • MG+ (Middle Grades Plus, 6 and up)
  • UG (Upper Grades, 9–12)