Day: May 17, 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!