Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
ISBN : 978-0142420591
Bibliography: Sepetys, R. (2010). BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY. Puffin.
Plot Summary:
Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life -- until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she embeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive?
Critical Analysis:
Between Shades of Grey tells of the harrowing experience a Lithuanian family went through when Russian secret police stormed into Lina’s home and took her, her mother Elena, and her brother Jonas to a work camp in Siberia. Sepetys’s vivid descriptions and attention to detail capture the reader almost immediately and puts the reader in the “back seat” where they themselves experience the same gut-wrenching dangers faced by all who were captured. Sepetys craftily embeds flashbacks throughout the novel showing the reader how Lina copes with the horrifying experience by remembering a more simple, happy time before the Russian take-over showing how Lina coped with her and her family’s situation. The brutal treatment by the Russian police towards the Lithuanian captives displays the reality of the complete disregard of human dignity and respect that many people in this world possess. The author beautifully demonstrates that even during the worst of times, there are still people, even those who face the same fate, who will do as much as they possibly can to help their fellow man. This book offers hope throughout and gives the reader the satisfaction of knowing that there is a “silver lining” around every cloud.
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Review Excerpt(s):
* “A gripping story.”--School Library Journal, starred review
* “Bitterly sad, fluidly written…Sepetys' flowing prose gently carries readers.”--Kirkus, starred review
* "Beautifully written and deeply felt…an important book that deserves the widest possible readership.”--Booklist, starred review
“A haunting chronicle, demonstrating that even in the heart of darkness ‘love is the most powerful army.'”--The Horn Book Magazine
Connection:
*Students can consider diverse representation with guided reflection on what they see in their world and the experiences they notice in the text. This may include reflecting on concepts such as privilege, power, and/or bias that might be in the text.
*Students can draw parallels between this story and the current situation in Ukraine.
Other similar books:
I MUST BETRAY YOU by Ruta Sepetys ISBN:978-1984836038
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