Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades of Gray 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, and it is only their incredible strength, love and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?"- summary from Amazon

In the summary, the journey is described as harrowing and it's not lying. This book will make you think, will make you read about things so horrible you can't believe people actually suffered like this. But ultimately, it will make you proud to know the truth of what happened and you can alert others to this book and its powerful story and message. I don't know Sepetys but I'm extremely proud of her for writing a book like this about a story that really needed to be told and I'm glad it's being published so everyone can read and be educated.

The book is hard to read, yet I had problems putting it down. Each time I would sit down to read, I'd always be surprised to see how far I'd gotten once I stopped. Sepetys' prose is just so compelling and flows really well. Lina's voice is also really good and I felt her frustrations, her helplessness, her joy whenever something good happened, her hunger, her hope, etc.

Overall, I can't say enough good things about this book. It is a fantastic, educational, and thought-provoking read. This book actually came randomly in the mail to me, and I'm so glad it did. Please go out, buy this book, and read it, then tell others about it.

Oh and be warned- you will cry. I didn't because it's hard to get me to cry, but I know quite a few people who did, so be prepared.

FTC: Received ARC from publisher. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.