A NIGHT DIVIDED, by Jennifer A. Nielsen

The story: The Berlin Wall goes up overnight, trapping Greta's father and brother in the west, and the rest of the family here in East Berlin. In a desperate attempt to reunite the family, Greta and her brother race against time as they start digging a tunnel under the wall. Discovery means death. The tunnel could collapse at any moment. The Stasi could find and execute them at any time. Is there any way this will turn out well?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language G; Violence PG; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; Magic and the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (political oppression and brutality) PG-13; overall rating PG.

Liz's comments: Nielsen, author of The Ascension Trilogy, takes a turn in a different direction with this historical novel of the Cold War. Although a little slow getting started, the tension ratchets up during the course of the story and readers will find themselves drawn into Greta and Fritz's story at the same time as they're learning a bit of recent history that most of them have never heard of. Not a bad combination!