The night divided is a book about a family living in the east side of berlin during the time of the cold war. The protagonist Greata, her mother, older brother Fitz, younger brother Domonic and their father. Are the main focus along with other characters. One day both Domonic and their father decided to take a trip to West Berlin, but that night their family would be divided with the sudden upbringing of the Berlin wall. Now it’s up to Greta, Fitz and their mother to escape in order to be together again.

The book has a very interesting characterization I enjoy how the author goes in depth with the background of each character. Also it paints a picture in my mind about the setting and how it’s a very dull and boring life over in the east side of Berlin. The author includes this quote “We called it Communist Gray. It was the color of our buildings, our markets, our streets. The color of the wall. Even the skies were gray today” (Nielsen). And like I said this painted a picture in my mind about how life is over there. Overall the characterization of the book is an element of the novel I really enjoyed. Although at the same time I hoped the author would go into more detail of smaller characters for example Greta’s friend Anna because I was still wondering a few things about her life before the wall went up. And since her family and her were spies I would want to see the life of living on the east side from her perspective. In addition the theme was very insightful. The author represents this through this quote “The sun never rises in the west, but that day it did. For me, and my family, the long, dark night was over. (Nielsen, A Night Divided). This shows that the protagonist and her family spent a long dark time separated but finally they were together and it was all sunshine and smiles for them.

I recommend this book to a mature audience from ages fourteen and up because it does touch topics that are political, but at the same time it has those elements of fiction that make it great for younger readers. Also it’s full of suspense which I think is great for younger readers because I liked it a lot and I would say that was one of my favorite parts. This book in general was great. I recommend it to anyone who would like to get a little bit of insight about how people lived during the cold war, and how life has changed so much since then.

Works Cited
Nielsen, Jennifer A. A Night Divided. Scholastic Inc, 2015.

—. A Night Divided. Scholastic Inc, 2015.