Night by Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel is necessary read for all teenagers, especially as there are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors living today to tell their stories. Night is Elie Wiesel’s personal narrative of what happened when the Nazis invaded his hometown in Romania, forced his family into and then out of the ghetto, and the concentration camps. It is told as he at fifteen experienced it. It is a low lexile level, so even younger readers understand the words, but the subject is so disturbing that it is best for eighth grade students and up. I start my students out with facts and images about the Holocaust, because each generation is getting farther away from the history. This short novella effectively allows readers to understand what happened during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s main purpose is to bear witness, which is why he wrote this book. By bearing witness to the atrocities of the Holocaust, we hope that humanity never again lets these things happen. As my tenth grade students read and learned about the Holocaust, they were able to make impressive connections to what is going on in Darfur, Sudan at the current time and what happened in Rwanda. It is so important for our adolescents to know about the past because they will be in charge of the future, and as they see it, we aren’t doing such a good job. Nevertheless, it does bring some appreciation for living in America and that fact that they will never know hunger as described by Wiesel. Night and the Holocaust is vital reading for the leaders of the future. The newest translation by his wife is very clear. When someone stands to bear witness, we should all listen. Never again.

120 pages
ISBN-10: 0374500010
ISBN-13: 978-0374500016
Lexile level: 590L

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