#tbt: Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Image: Penguin Random House

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. 352 p. Philomel/ Penguin Young Readers Group, March, 2011. 9780399254123. (Own.)

It's a dreary, rainy Thursday here in northern NJ and my dogs are not happy. And, hot weather is on its way. Ugh.  #tbt features Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. The night that fifteen-year-old Lina's father failed to return home, Soviet forces invaded her home and forced the family to a truck. They were then loaded onto crowded cattle cars and transported thousands of miles from Lithuainia to Siberia, where they were imprisoned in harsh labor camps.

Most people are aware of the genocide that happened in Nazi Germany, but might not be aware of the genocide that occurred when Stalin annexed the Baltic countries of Lithuainia, Estonia, and Latvia. Millions were deported or otherwise disappeared during World War II and remained in these camps until the mid-1950s.

This is not an easy book to read. Lina's story is based on extensive interviews and research the author conducted while visiting family in Lithuainia. Most were still afraid to speak of the time more than fifty years after being freed. Between Shades of Gray was Ms. Sepetys' debut novel. It was published in March of 2011 and was named a New York Times Notable book, was a Carnegie Medal Finalist as well as a Morris Award Finalist and won the Golden Kite Award. It has been translated into more than thirty languages and was adapted for film and renamed Ashes in the Snow. Last fall, a graphic novel adaptation was published.