Month: May 2021

A Night Divided – A Book Review

By Svara Jayasinghe

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(image by amazon.com)

Imagine living behind a wall, with soldiers training their guns towards their own citizens. Eight year old Gerta, the main character in the book A Night Divided, by Jennifer A. Nielsen, is forced to live just like that. Set in East Berlin, this book will take you into the past.

One night, Gerta wakes up and realizes that a fence has been built around her city, not to keep people from coming in, but to keep people from going out. The fence quickly transforms into a concrete wall with watchtowers, and adopts the name the Berlin Wall. The worst part is that Gerta and her family are separated by the wall, her father and middle brother in West Berlin, and her mother, older brother, and herself in East Berlin.

Four years later, Gerta spots her father on the other side, performing a dance. She watches him make digging motions, singing Gerta’s favorite song. At first, Gerta thinks her father is telling her to dig for treasure, but she soon realizes that she is being told to dig a tunnel to West Berlin. After convincing her brother, Fritz, they start digging. Will Gerta and her family be able to run to safety or will they have to stay trapped in East Berlin forever? To find out, read the book A Night Divided!

Bubble – A Book Review

By Svara Jayasinghe

Bubble is a realistic fiction book by Stewart Foster about a boy who has never left his room, and never will. 11 year old Joe Grant was born without an immune system. Due to severe combined immunodeficiency, (SCID), he has spent most of his life in what he calls a “bubble”, his hospital room in England. Joe’s life consists of going through endless therapy sessions and checkups while he gazes out the window of his bubble, longing to be in the outside world.

image by amazon.com

Joe will never be able to step outside of his room, even for one moment. Even the few visitors that enter his room risk bringing in life-threatening germs and viruses. Joe spends his days trying to cope with the loneliness and frustration that comes with being completely isolated for all of your life. Until one day, when a new nurse comes to the hospital and changes Joe’s life forever.

I rate Bubble a 9 out of 10. Stewart Foster created a touching yet uplifting story that captured my attention the whole way through. I loved reading Bubble and highly recommend it!

Refugee – A Book Review

By Svara Jayasinghe

Refugee is a historical fiction book by Alan Gratz that tells the heart wrenching yet captivating tales of three children, who all have the same mission: to flee to safety.

Josef – a Jewish boy in the 1930s who lives in Berlin, Germany under the rule of Adolf Hitler. When Josef’s home is broken into one night by “storm troopers” and his father is arrested and taken to a concentration camp for illegally practicing law, Josef’s life is turned upside down. Six months later, Josef’s father is released, but on only one condition. He must leave the country in fourteen days. Even though Germany is their home, the Nazis made it very clear that Josef’s family was not wanted, and soon enough, the four find themselves on a ship taking them across the world.

(image by amazon.com)

Isabel – a Cuban girl in the 1990s who lives in Havana. The Soviet Union had been buying sugar from Cuba for more than eleven times the price and had been sending food, medicine and other helpful items for free for decades, but once the Soviet Union fell, devastation rained upon Cuba. As more time passed, more people became restless. Slowly but surely, Isabel’s hometown becomes full of riots and is swallowed by chaos. When Isabel’s father takes part in a riot and narrowly escapes getting arrested, Isabel and her family must leave as soon as they can. They set out on a small raft at night, hoping to seek refuge in America.

Mahmoud – a Syrian boy in 2015 who lives in Aleppo. Years ago, Aleppo had been the brightest and most modern city in Syria. Then, in 2011, the Arab Spring came to Syria. Revolutions swept through the Middle East, destroying governments and starting wars. Soon enough, Mahmoud and his family will be making the long journey to Europe in search of safety.

All three children go on a dangerous adventure, each facing life-threatening dangers and betrayals. Although the three children are separated by time periods and locations, in the end, their stories will tie together.

I rate Refugee a 9 out of 10. The author perfectly described what is was like for immigrant families during each time period, and it was heartbreaking yet enchanting. I extremely enjoyed reading Refugee, and highly suggest reading this book.