Between Shades of Gray

Posted on 08 June 2018 by Ruta Sepetys

Lina is just like any other fifteen year old Lithuanian girl in 1941 She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they ve known Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia Here they are forced, under Stalin s orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously and at great risk documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father s prison camp to let him know they are still alive It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart. New Read eBook Between Shades of Gray author Ruta Sepetys – kino-fada.fr Really loved this book and it s story because I personally have never heard about this side of the war before and I m so grateful I know about it now.This is not a pretty book.Even though I found this novel exceptionally well written, it was not a pleasure to read It s about Lithuanians displaced to Siberian work camps during World War II It was pretty unflinchingly brutal, but here s why I think you ought to read it 1 It is a side of World War II that you might not have seen before I certainly hadn t heard these stories of displaced Europeans, and I have to say, having been to Lithuania on tour last year, it made so much of what they sai This is not a pretty book.Even though I found this novel exceptionally well written, it was not a pleasure to read I...Actual rating 4.5 starsAs soon as I saw this video, I knew I had to read this novel Between Shades of Gray isn t the type of book I d normally read, but I m extremely glad that I decided to read it.Lina is a very strong and courageous character Despite the situation Lina is placed in at the young age of fifteen, she audaciously chooses to write about the terrible cruelties the Soviets are doing to those around her as well as her family and herself Lina is an arti...I don t know what the educational plan looks like in other Canadian provinces it should be quite similar to Quebec s but where I went to high school we learned so little about the social consequences of World War II, so I m grateful I have books like BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY to enlighten me on the subject Here s the thing this is different from Ruta Sepetys other novels Maybe because it s her first one, I don t know, but suffice it to say, it s not as impossible to put down Because it foc I don t know what the educational plan looks like in other Canadian provinces it should be quite similar to Quebec s but where I went to high school we learned so little ab... Exactly a year before, the Soviets have begun moving troops over the borders into the country Then, in August, Lithuania was officially annexed into the Soviet Union When I complained at the dinner table, Papa yelled at me and told me to never, ever say anything derogatory about the Soviets He sent me to my room I didn t say anything out loud after that But I thought about it a lot.Despite her father s caution, 15 year old Lena Vilkas, her 10 year old brother Jonas and their mother Elena ar Exactly a year before, the Soviets have begun moving troops over the borders into the country Then, in August, Lithuania was officially annexed into the Soviet Union When I complained at the dinner table, Papa yelled at me and told me to never, ever say anything derogatory about the Soviets He sent me to my room I didn t say anything out loud after that But I thought about it a lot.Despite her father s caution, 15 year old Lena Vilkas, her 10 year old brother Jonas and their mother Elena are charged as criminals and arrested in their home in Lithuania by Soviet officers Lena s Papa didn t return from work the previous day and they don t even know if he s alive The three of them are forced into...Now my heart sank into my stomach where the bile began to chew itStep on my heart, cut it wide open, rub it with salt and feed it to the sharks. Or just make me read this book, because this is how it feels like reading this story.How can I call wonderful a book full of so many horrors But I will, because it really is, and what pains me the most is that it s all true, that this is a really tiny part of the darkest piece of our history as human beings.You thought this was repugnant WelNow my heart sank into my stomach where the bile began to chew itStep on my heart, cut it wide open, rub it with salt and feed it to the sharks. Or just make me read this book, because this is how it feels like reading this story.How can I call wonderful a book full of so many horrors But I will, because it really is, and what pains me the most is that it s all true, that this is a really tiny part of the darkest piece of our history as human beings.You thought this was repugnant Well, think again because this was only the beginning What wa...I was so taken by the story of Lina and her family and all of the others that came to life here as they were deported from their homes in Lithuania, by Stalin s Russians to a work camp in Siberia It s a devastatingly sad story of fictional characters but what makes it evenheartbreaking is that this story reflects a true story of a genocide that took the lives of over 20 million people I am especially saddened by the fact that I knew pretty much nothing about it and I am grateful to the I was so taken by the story of Lina and her family and all of the others that came to life here as they were deported from their homes in Lithuania, by Stalin s Russians to a work camp in Siberia It s a devastatingly sad story of fictional characters but what makes it evenheartbreaking is that this story reflects a true story of a genocide that took the lives of over 20 million people I am especially saddened by the fact that I knew pretty much nothing about it and I am grateful to the author for telling it It s so hard to imagine that this is a piece of history that is so little known and I can t help but think how can that be This is...These writings may shock or horrify you, but that is not my intention It is my greatest hope that the pages in this jar stir your deepest well of human compassion I hope they prompt you to do something, to tell someone Only then can we ensure that this kind of evil is never allowed to repeat itselfSo I read this last night, and I went to work this morning I was so deeply affected by this story, and my mind kept drifting back to Lina and Jonas and the countless real victims of the BalticThese writings may shock or horrify you, but that is not my intention It is my greatest hope that the pages in this jar stir your deepest well of human compassion I hope they prompt you to do something, to tell someone Only then can we ensure that this kind of evil is never allowed to repeat itselfSo I read this last night, and I went to work this morning I was so deeply affected by this story, and my mind kept drifting back to Lina and Jonas and the countless real victims of the Baltic Deportations When I finished the book, I immediately went on my computer and googled anything I could find out about the deportations While the book itself devastated me, the outcome of my Baltic deportation research devastated me on a whole other level I felt a mixture of anger and sadness but seo angry because how can human beings treat each other this way How can a human be cruel for the sake of being cruel B...Um so I m a bit torn on this one but I m going to rate it 3.5 stars I think what made it worse was all the bloody hype like with Matched that made me think this was going to blow my mind and it kind of just, well, didn t.It was an interesting history lesson My knowledge of Soviet activities was previouslypolitical than social and anything I did know of thepersonal impact on people s lives was what I d gained from German museums telling the story of the Berlin wall It s true Um so I m a bit torn on this one but I m going to rate it 3.5 stars I think what made it worse was all the bloody hype like with Matched that made me think this was going to blow my mind and it kind of just, well, didn t.It was an interesting history lesson My knowledge of Soviet activities was previouslypolitical than social and anything I did know of thepersonal impact on people s lives was what I d gained from German museums telling the story of the Berlin wall It s true that the Baltic countries often slip ou...Edit, July 9, 2016 I was a pretentious 16 year old when I wrote this review, lol I m 21 now and I ll be going back to edit it periodically Let me justify my seemingly harsh rating First things first, let me provide you with some probably not necessitated background into my interest in this book I am an avid studier of Lithuanian history I have rigorously researched this time period prior to this book s creation, thus I was absolutely overjoyed when I got wind of its publishing It s abo Edit, July 9, 2016 I was a pretentious 16 year old when I wrote this review, lol I m 21 now and I ll be going back to edit it periodically Let me justify my seemingly harsh rating First things first, let me provide you with some probably not necessitated background into my interest in this book I am an avid studier of Lithuanian history I have rigorously researched this time period prior to this book s creation, thus I was absolutely overjoyed when I got wind of its publishing It s about time that a young adult book chronicled the h...

English
08 June 2018

Ruta Sepetys