A Night Divided: 02/18/18

A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen is set at the building of the Berlin wall, in East Berlin, with a family physically divided by the wall.

If I were younger and this were my first Berlin Wall story, I would probably rate it higher. As it isn't, I could see all the pieces falling into place based on the many tropes that have developed in the three decades the wall stood and people told stories about crossing it.

Also with the dates, places, and East German words so carefully included and defined, it's artifice as historical fact-tion is more obvious than it would have been if all those details had been included instead in an appendix and glossary.

The book is basically a dry, book report trying to be a family drama adventure in a historical setting. But with so much of the emphasis being on making sure the reader learns something about the Berlin Wall and the many different ways people managed to cross it at great personal risk.

Two stars

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