Between Shades of Gray

Words cannot describe the beauty of this book. Ruta Sepetys tells the story of a fifteen-year-old girl, Lina, and the experiences she and her family have to endure during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania.

I am always hesitant to read books centered around World War II. I had to read several of them for school, and the sadness of those books was difficult to endure. Thus, I'm very cautious when I pick up novels of this nature. However, Ruta Sepetys makes the journey completely worth it. Her writing is exquisite. The imagery - perfection. From the first sentence, I could not put the book down. The characters wouldn't leave me alone. Their strength and love for one another, for God, and for country was inspiring, and the horrors they had to endure heartbreaking. 

One of the most amazing feats of this story is that I never felt bogged down with sorrow. Instead, Sepetys seamlessly presented characters as their whole person, not just as they were while in labor camps. The result was inspiring, in which the horrors of labor camps was revealed, but in which the tenacity of the survivors and their connection to one another was the root of the story.

I have never been so enlightened. Based on the true experiences of survivors of Soviet camps and with extensive research involved, this is a book everyone should read. Everyone needs to know what happened in the not too distant past. You will fall in love with these people and their story of survival. I cannot overemphasize this.

*Due to the content of this story, it is a book well suited for discussion. Appropriate for ages 14+