Between Shades of Gray

I read Between Shades of Gray this weekend, and couldn't put it down. It was captivating and heart-breaking, and touched on a subject that isn't touched on a lot. The story was interrupted with Lina's flashbacks to happier times, and made the story seem more real than fictional. Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray follows Lina's deportation to Siberia during World War Two. Her country, Lithuania, has been annexed into Soviet Russia under Stalin's reign. One night, Soviet officers burst into her home, and give Lina, her mother and her young brother twenty minutes to pack. They are brought to a train station, where they are loaded into a filthy train car with dozens of other people. Locked in, they make their way North to the coldest part of Siberia. During their journey, they meet Andrius, a young boy, a cynical bald man, and Ona and her newborn baby girl. The group ends up in a Siberian village, digging for beets and being abused by soldiers. Lina survives through her drawings, as she sketches the horrors and kindness she sees. Despite the cruelty and hardships of life in this village, hope and love live on. I loved everything about this book. The prose was smooth and flowing, and the characters' emotions rung deep and clear. It made me cry and laugh and want to know more about Stalin's work camps. It's a story about World War Two you don't hear very often. I cared about all of the characters and was connected to them in a way I haven't been in a long time. Lina was a strong, sympathetic character who was real and relatable. This novel was one of the best I've read in very long while. Even after I finished it, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I wish I had savored every moment of it. The only thing lacking from this novel was the end. I wish I could have known more about Lina's life after the work camps and how she was released. It would've been nice to know if she had found her father and (SPOILER) how she located Andrius. But the ending was tastefully done and answered most of my questions. Though this novel is intended for teens, adults will enjoy it too. It is a great book, no matter your age. I recommend it for anyone who is even slightly interested in Soviet Russia, or anyone who is looking for a beautifully written page turner.[...]

Although this most impressive novel was written using fictional characters (the plot created) the events on which it is based are most certainly true. In her Author's Note Ruta Sepetys explains that in 1939 the Soviet Union occupied the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Not long after, the Kremlin drew up lists of people considered anti-Soviet who Sepetys accurately states "would be murdered, sent to prison, or deported into slavery in Siberia. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, military servicemen, writers, business owners, musicians, artists, and even librarians were all considered anti-Soviet and were added to the growing list slated for wholesale genocide. The first deporations took place on June 14, 1941."This is a particularly meaningful story to me because my own family had members who were forcibly deported to Siberia and suffered the deaths of people they dearly loved. Fortunately for the author's father (and my own parents) they (and their families) were able to escape to refugee camps set up in the American occupied zone of Germany. My maternal great aunt and her family with four daughters, however, were not so lucky. They did end up getting deported to Siberia, the two oldest girls literally worked to death dying of cold and starvation.I love the incredibly empathic way in which this novel was written. It is written in the first person ("as told by") a 15-old-girl named Lina, who instead of heading for art school found herself forced into a train heading into the far reaches of the Soviet Union. Packed into railroad cars, starved for food, fresh air, even bathroom facilities these people, like the Jews in many parts of Europe, were stripped of their homes, their possessions, their very lives. It was painful to realize that, in many cases, the oppressors themselves were being fed and supplied by Americans who were too uninformed, too naive or simply had no wish to know what was going on. As they made their way east young children and the elderly started to die. Their bodies were literally tossed from train cars "swept clean" not even given the dignity of a burial. Before the journey begins Lina risks death by trying to find her father who has been placed into another train car headed for a prison where later she finds out he is shot. It is at this time she meets another teenager, a young man named Arvydas, for whom she develops a liking. Her group of people were first sent to one forced labor camp and then to another. In the second camp, located near the Arctic circle where the weather is especially harsh, Lina suffers the loss of her own mother. This part of the book is written particularly well because it evokes such deep emotion that the tears cannot help but fall.Although Hitler's mass destruction of six million Jews (and at least three million non-Jewish individuals) is a most unquestionably horrible set of events, I have often wondered why more attenton has not been given to the TWENTY million that Stalin murdered in his own country. Again the author reminds me that "Upon returning in the mid-1950's, the Lithuanians found that Soviets had occupied their homes, were enjoying all of their belongings, and had even assumed their names. Everything was lost. The returning deportees were treated as criminals. They were forced to live in restricted areas, and were under constant surveillance by the KGB, formerly the NKVD. Speaking about their experience meant immediate imprisonment or deportation back to Siberia. As a result, the horrors they endured went dormant, a hideous secret shared by millions of people."As a Lithuanian-American I am so DEEPLY grateful that Ruta Sepetys wrote this book. She explains how carefully she researched it by several visits to Lithuania where she interviewed survivors of this horrible ordeal. My only regret is that someone had not written this book YEARS earlier. These people's (MY people's) story needed to be told. The author honored their memory by doing just that.. Sirdingai aciu. (My sincerest thank you). Tegul Dievas tave palaimina Ruta (May God bless you Ruta).

I read this book with my Freshmen, and I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to teach my students about the horrors that occurred during Stalin’s regime. My only complaint was the ending... she left us with so many questions. I found out that there is a second book, and I will be reading that.

When I was in highschool in 11 grade I bought the paperbag version of this book in a book event and since then I have always love it, cherish it and it is my most beloved possession. I wanted to keep my original in a good condition so I bought one of the hardcover version. Sadly the ants starred to eat it to the point it ruin it since they basically was creating a colony inside the book! I had to run and sadly drop the book on water so the ants stop not only destroy my beloved book but others as well and I cried in agony when I did it. Sadly I couldn't rescue it on time since the ants basically ate away the spine of the book away for some odd reason, so I bought another one. I hope to put the book in a very safe place where the ants won't invade or eat my precious book. Still 10/10 recommend this book as many times I can.

What an experience this book was!!! It took me on a long and gruesome journey of deportation from Lithuania in 1941 to Siberia to end on the Arctic circle. The main character, Lena, 15 at the beginning of the story will not give up on her will to survive hardest work, starvation, diseases and death around her. Whether she finds her strength in her drawings depicting the people around her and hoping they will reach her father, or in her youth, anger at all the injustices she experiences, she strives at remaining true to herself. Extremely well written, the author succeeded in intertwining the present horrors to memories remembered by Lena which might have helped her to go each day a bit further. The story swirls in constant tension. However, the chapters are short which allowed me to breathe out and relax.Excellent read!

El libro está muy bien escrito, además, te ayuda a conocer un poco más a historia de la segunda guerra mundial, pero no simplemente el lado alemán, francés, sino el lado ruso.

How do i even begin describing about this book and the life lesson it has taught me. I was warned before i started reading and i will warn you with this - READ ONLY WHEN YOU ARE ALONE. WHY? BECAUSE THERE’S 99.9% CHANCE YOU WILL CRY. But if you are morbid and have weak heart just like me, it might haunt you for days or maybe even forever. I found myself sobbing in many parts. Still after turning down the last page, i couldn’t stop thinking about the hardship and atrocities the characters on this book has gone through.I’m thankful to @rutasepetysauthor for this amazing masterpiece. For throwing light on the rules of Soviet Union, otherwise for me, World War II was all about Holocaust, Nagasaki & Hiroshima and how the Jews suffered from Hitler. It’s also selfish of me to say but throughout the book, i was thankful to God & life that we aren’t going through this devastating siege like those people have gone through. I look back at ‘not so beautiful’ life of mine yet took deep breath..This book tells about a 15year old Lithuanian girl, Lina who along with her little brother & mother were deported to work in labor camp in Siberia by Soviet Police popularly know as NKVD. She doesn’t know if she’ll ever see her father or friends again yet she hopes for her family, her country, her future and her first love.The author, Ruta Sepetys wrote based on first hand family accounts & memories from survivors. It’s heart-wrenching. If you love history & history fiction, this one won’t fail you. Go and get it.

Late one evening in 1941, 15-year-old Lina is dragged out of her home by Soviet soldiers, alongside her mother and brother. She’s confused, scared, worried for her father and most of all wondering, why them? This story chronicles their journey to and their experience in Siberia where Lina and hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians, Estonians, and Latvians, identified as criminals against Soviet rule, were deported to slave in labour camps or outright exterminated. With her world torn apart and having to deal with trauma, loss, grief and despair, Lina keeps a tight hold to the hope of survival through her memories and love of art.“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother’s was worth a pocket watch.”This was a harrowing and heartbreaking novel full of enduring hope in the face of absolute brutality and injustice. It was a testament to hope and love and kindness. I have always been gripped by historical fictions ever since I read books like Anne Frank’s Diary, the Devil’s Arithmetic, Night, and others about the holocaust, in school. I admit though, that I didn’t have any prior knowledge about the same horrors happening in other countries and to other peoples during that same period. This was a very educational read, as much as it was a poignant account of those who suffered under Soviet rule.Sepetys writes in a simple, yet powerful and compelling way that made it difficult to put this book down. I dreaded having to leave for work in the morning because I knew I had to put it to the back of mind and I couldn’t wait to race home and pick it up again at days end. I thought that all the characters in the book were well written and many of them had believably mature personas that I oftentimes forgot that Lina was only a teenager and her brother Jonas, only a boy.I greatly admired Lina’s strength of character throughout her story and her ability to keep hanging on to hope even in the most dire of circumstances and through the most debilitating of losses. Her strength and even youthful optimism in the face of adversity lent a lightness and much needed hopefulness to the situation that reminded me in ways of Anne Frank and her perception of her situation. Just as Anne did, I liked that rebellious Lina recorded events through her art and writing, despite the dangers of being discovered. Maybe it was selfish at times but it was also her way of ensuring that nothing was ever forgotten. What I also found very inspiring was that despite the amount of suffering that was inflicted upon Lina, her family and those around her, there was so much forgiveness and even kindness given to the enemy. All the characters felt so very much like family at the end and even the most frustrating/maddening characters managed to redeem themselves too.Although I felt the ending came quite abruptly, I can see why it was done that way, and I thought it wrapped the story up on a positive note, giving readers hope that there will be a somewhat happy ending to this story after all.This book made me think a lot about how despite having learned something from our history, it seems that we haven’t learned enough from it. There is still so much fear in people—fear of differences and of things that they don’t understand. It’s disheartening to know that there are still so many greedy, selfish and egotistical people in positions of power who use their words and actions to rouse hatred towards and stoke fear of others. But still, I believe in the power of human compassion and I stand with those who find the strength to step up against these types of people and their abhorrent actions. In her authors note at the end, Sepetys gave more background information to the Soviet massacre of over three million citizens of the Baltic states. I think the greatest lesson to be taken from this novel was beautifully summarized by her:“Some wars are about bombings. For the people of the Baltics, this was was about believing. In 1991, after fifty years of brutal occupation, the three Baltic countries regained their independence, peacefully and with dignity. They chose hope over hate and showed the world that even through the darkest night, there is light... These three tiny nations have taught us that love is the most powerful army... —love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.”This was a fast and beautifully written read. I definitely look forward to reading more books written by Ruta Sepetys!

I strongly advise everyone to read it . What Stalin did to these people is simply outrageous.I learnt al lot about the repressionand about that time and compared to Hitler, Stalin was as cruel ans as undeserving to live. Both were tyrants. I wish there were a sequel to this novel so as to learn more about the heroes' story.Don't hesitate to read it, this book will haunt you !