What the Night Sings
Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Year
2018
ISBN
9781524700386
Pages
266 pages
Genre
historical
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
Liberated from Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in 1945, Gerta has lost her family and everything she knew. Without her Papa, her music, or even her true identity, she must move past the task of surviving and onto living her life. Gerta meets Lev, a fellow teen survivor, and Michah, who helps Jews reach Palestine. With a newfound Jewish identity she never knew she had, and a return to the life of music she thought she lost forever, Gerta must choose how to build a new future.
Grade Level
6-8; 9-12
Lexile Measure
HL720L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Culture/Ethnicity; Single parent; Family member death; Homelessness; Immigrants and refugees; single father; death of a mother; death of a father; no home; displaced; resettlement; refugee family
Main Character
female teenager
Race/Ethnicities
Jewish / White
Family Formation
orphan
Awards
Cybils Awards, 2018, Nominee, Young Adult Fiction
Golden Kite Award, 2019, Honor, Young Adult Fiction Book
National Book Award, 2018, Long List, Young People's Literature
Sydney Taylor Book Award, 2019, Winner, Teen Readers
William C. Morris Award, 2019, Finalist
Choices, 2019 Fiction Young Adult
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2019 Young Adult Fiction
Keywords
Holocaust; Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp; Israel; Judaism; marriage; illustrations; music; singing; violin
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Stamper, Vesper, "What the Night Sings" (2018). Diverse Families. 1707.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1707