Between Shades of Gray

In 1941, three countries disappeared from local and world maps. The Russian invasion had begun. Stalin’s Russia. Terror reined. This is the story of Lina, a 15 year old Lithuanian girl and the horrific years she endured following the night the Soviet Secret Police (NKVD) took her, her ten year old brother Jonas, and their mother, Elena, away. They were given twenty minutes to pack. A warm loaf of bread appeared on Lina’s window sill, but she didn’t think to pack it - which later filled her with deep regret. As Lina was soon to learn, the Secret Police removal focused on the people of Lithuania as teachers, military service men, librarians, doctors, lawyers, and other professional men, women, and their children were rounded up and stuffed into box cars labeled Prostitutes and Thieves. They were sentenced to death at hard labor in Siberia. Elena and Lina begged for information as to where their husband and father Kostas Vilkas, provost of the university, was taken.The hope being reunited kept mother and children focus on surviving. Though suffering from a lack of food, unsanitary conditions, and warmth from the cold, these strong people were able to endure imprisonment and grueling hardships.They found joy and laughter where they could as they helped each other survive. They kept hope alive as death surrounded them. After Stalin’s reign of terror, the people rebuilding Lithuania were forbidden to talk about any part of what they had been through. If they spoke of it, they would be killed. A nation of people kept silent. This award winning YA novel is based on drawings found in a glass jar on a construction site in 1995. The story is based on truth but the characters, with the exception of Dr Samodurov, are fictional. I could not put this novel down. As the story unfolds, most chapters include memories of their former lives written in italics. The story is both heart rendering and beautiful. A story of love, heartbreak, hope, unspeakable horrors, and survival. A story long hidden yet begging to be told. Read the author’s notes. A five star book and I cannot wait to read more of the author’s work. Well done, Ruta Sepetys, well done.

This was a wonderful novel and although it was written for a young adult audience, it can be enjoyed by all ages. This book depicts another crime against humanity from our world history that was unknown to me before reading this book. Young Lina is our narrator that we follow on her treacherous journey of survival. We see events through Lina's eyes-one moment she is safe at home with her family, and the next she is rounded up with others and sent off on a journey that will change her life forever. Not knowing where they are going, when or if they will ever return, and a suitcase filled with their meager belongings, they unwillingly follow their captors directions. When they are first led to a train station I imagined they were definitely being sent to a concentration camp with death impending soon. This wasn't the case as Stalin planned for the majority of his prisoners to serve work detail under inhumane conditions. The train journey is only the beginning of their torture as they are given barely any food to eat and conditions are hardly liveable for livestock, let alone people. As more people are crammed into the train cars along the way, they must learn to live together in the closed quarters, allowing them to create friendships and relationships that will help them in the months to come. The first destination for Lina and her family is a work camp, where slave labor is put into full force. Much of this novel reminds me of the Holocaust, and treatment of the prisoners falls into this category. Everyone is worked until they have no strength left and daily food rations are minimal. Everyone learns to do what they need to do in order to get by, and many use the relationships that were developed on the train to assist them in their daily living. We learn throughout the novel from Lina's flashbacks that the reason for their imprisonment is political. Anyone who had a different motive or ideal from Stalin was captured and either sent to a prison or a work camp. It was interesting to see this revelation through Lina's young eyes since she did not truly understand the motives. This was a wonderful story even though it was difficult to read at times. It read very quickly and smoothly for me as it only took me a few days to complete it. With themes of family, love, war, and morals, there is so much more to this story than I described above. I don't hesitate in recommending this novel for either personal leisure or as a book club discussion.

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.

Between Shades of Gray took my breath away. This novel portrays the story of Lina, a young girl living in Lithuania in 1941. Her story immediately begins the night she is taken away. I started reading this novel in the car right after I got it, but I was only planning to read a few pages... after all, I was already reading another book. But little did I know! Since the beginning of the story is so captivating, I could not put it down! I read the majority of it that night, and only when I was forced to go to bed did I put it down. I immediately finished it the next day. Honestly, I didn't even know that this had happened in history, and it makes me feel ignorant. Because if so many people suffered this much and this tragically, I think everyone should know about it. But horrific plot aside, let's look at the writing. Sepetys does a magical job of creating something beautiful out of something terrible. Her writing captures the essence of what it was like to be Lina, and even though I am worlds away from this girl who suffered so much, when I was reading this novel, I understood. I understood her pain and her loss and her harrowing fight to just stay alive. Sepetys adds no fancy details, no extraordinary embellishments. This story just is. And that is what makes it so heartbreaking. Now, the love. Lina and Andrius' relationship is so very simple, yet it means so much - to both Lina and the reader. And this is what made me realize something. Lina and Andrius are just two teenagers - all they want is to be together, to love and be loved. But what has happened to them has stolen their very power to do just this. Yes, these people lost everything material you could think of. They were deprived of food, of water, of fresh air. But then think past that. What these people have ultimately been deprived of is their identity. And as far as I am concerned, no one should have the right to take what makes you you away from you. The parts that most got to me in this book were the times when the prisoners were made to feel worthless, belittled, unwanted. Like when Lina, her mother, and 2 women were forced to dig large trenches small, handle-less shovels. They worked 12 hours on end with as little as 1 break. They worked through rain and frost. And then, when they were finally done, the head of the prison camp came over. He made the women lie in the trenches, and him and his friends buried them and threatened to kill them. This part, throughout the whole story, is what broke me. It made me see and understand that no one deserves to be treated like that. And the only reason they were is because this ignorant, filthy man thought he was better than them. Overall... This book is amazing. Possibly my favourite of the year so far... Sepetys brings to life this tragic and horrific story that was suffered by so many, and tells it from the point of view of just an average teenage girl trying to keep herself and her family alive. It is the story of children forced to grow up too fast, too soon, and those who never got to grow up. Of mothers and fathers dying before they will ever see their children do great things. Of stolen lives and lost souls. But most of all, it's proof that hope still lives on - even in the darkest, dankest back corners of sun deprived train cars heading into an unknown world of pain and loss.

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.

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