Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. As the architect of her family’s freedom, Gerta memorably demonstrates that survival is possible even in the bleakest of circumstances.

Nielsen ( Mark of the Thief) evokes the constant unease of life in a divided Berlin through Gerta’s sober narration, as she struggles with death, lying to survive, and underground obstacles like burst pipes, but the family never loses sight of the power of humility and forgiveness. Like Anne Frank before her, Gerta is small but mighty, a hardheaded heroine who dreams up big ideas and refuses to give up in the face of adversity and danger. Four years later, the Berlin Wall has become a harsh reality, but a secret message from her father, hidden in a silly dance, gives Gerta hope and a plan for escape: tunneling to freedom. 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.Eight-year-old Gerta awakens one morning to a fence cleaving her family in two-her father and one of her brothers were on a trip to West Berlin while the rest of the family became trapped in the East. 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.

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. 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. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west.

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. Instantly access A Night Divided plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids. From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer A.

A night divided by jennifer a nielsen