Between Shades of Gray
Book - 2011
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9780142420591
014242059X
Opinion
From Library Staff
From Library Staff
Online Book Club pick for November 2019. Lina and her family are ripped from their home by Soviet guards and are sent to Siberia. Through the unimaginable hardship, Lina vows to tell her story so that the circumstances they encounter do not become forgotten.
Pulled from her home and sent to a work camp in Siberia during WWII, fifteen-year-old Lin finds solace in her art. She draws in clues to her location in the hopes that they will find their way to her father.
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Age
Add Age SuitabilityANABELLE H. PORTER thinks this title is suitable for 13 years and over
Quotes
Add a Quote“Better that he gets used to it,' he said.
Used to what, the feeling of uncontrolled anger? Or a sadness so deep, like your very core has been hollowed out and fed back to you from a dirty bucket?”
“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch.”
"Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch"
"Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth?
That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch."
Page 27
'"One day, someone will catch your eye, Lina, and hopefully when it happens, you won't be so critical."'
Page 139
"We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer."
Page 307
Summary
Add a Summary15 year old Lina and her family are suddenly taken from their home by Soviets. Lina, along with her brother and mother are sent to Siberia to work on collective farms while her father is sent to a prison camp. This story follows her struggle to communicate with her father through her drawings, and to keep hope and stay alive even though her has been destroyed.
Between Shades of Grey is an amazing book about a 15 year old girl in 1941, when a group of Russian officers take her, her mother Elena, her brother Jonas to a railway station with hundreds of others. they were loaded in huge train cars to be deported, but no one knew where.
One night, Lina slips away and finds her father, who believes that they are going to Serbia. lina never sees her father ever again.
Lina and the others are soon in a prison camp that becomes thire home for 10 mouths in Traciak. They are forced to share a tiny hut with a grouchy women who always asked for rent, basically whenever she felt like it. Lina's life becomes a bit better when a boy named Andrius steps in her life to share her countless problems. Lina and the others work hard for hours, gaining only 300 grams of dried bread to survive on. After 10 mouths, the russian officers made groups by dividing some of the people to be sent to the Arctic Circle. Lina Elena and Jonas are on the list, but not Andrius.
Buildings or even huts are not provided for the prisoners in the Arctic, who are forced to build their own shelter with what ever they could find there. Everyday People died. One day, even Jonas got the scurvy and finally help had arrived! A doctor had been alerted about the horrible conditions here and demanded healthcare and food for all the prisoners.
At the End, Lina writes a letter and her drawings in 1954, which is then found in 1995. In this letter, she says she buried her writings ans drawings with hope that someone will find find them so the world will know what happened to 1000s of people like her. She hopes that by sharing this knowledge, these kinds of events shall never be repeated.
Fifteen year-old Lina and her family are ordinary just like any other Lithuanian family in 1941. One night Soviet officers barge into their house and forced them into train cars. There she meets new friends but is separated from her father. Lina is also an aspiring artist and tries to get a message across to her father. Will they survive these cruel conditions and will their hopes keep them alive?
Lina is a victim of the Russian prison camps in Siberia, She has done nothing wrong but is forced into years of imprisonment and hard work. She is a passionate artist who struggles to contact her father through her art.
It is Lithuania in the 1930's, and Lina Vilkas and her family have been arrested by the Soviet police. Rounded up without warning in the middle of the night, she, her mother and her younger brother are separated from her father and stuffed into a cattle car to be taken to Siberia. Through the following years of privation, hunger, hardship and brutality, Lina and her family strive to hold on to their dignity and goodness.
Lina must be strong for her family and herself while struggling with her world falling a part around her.
This story depicts the struggle of fictional characters in camps and prisons. Lina, her mother, and her brother, Jonas, are separated from her father. They strive to survive in the hopes of returning home.
Notices
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GCPL_Teen
Jun 28, 2017
Sexual Content: While not discussed in detail, there is sexual violence towards female prisoners.
Frightening or Intense Scenes: has some very mature scenes with cruelty towards children
Sexual Content: has rape, a prostitute, and a man groping a young girls breast
Comment
Add a CommentLina and her family are taken by force to work camps in Siberia as the Soviets arrest Lithuanians at the beginning of WWII. This is a tale of little known trouble of the "Baltic States" at this time in history. Lina draws everything she sees when she is not working for the Soviets or struggling to survive. First her drawings are to leave a trail for her father but also to remember the atrocities they are made to bear under soviet hands. The living conditions are deplorable and food is scarce and meager. This is a heartbreaking story resulting in the will to live and learning find good where you least expect.
This book is a great book, but a very hard read. It's heartbreaking. Personally, I would not read this again because of the tragic events that occur, however it is definitely worth the read!
A good read but not an easy one. Heartbreaking story of war, separation and desperation with no happy ending. Tells the eye opening reality of war.
This book was so well written and was really eye-opening to parts of history that are often overlooked.
I loved it, but it was a hard read, not because the book wasn't great, but because there was barely any hope for the characters and the story was so heart-breaking. I would not read this if you don't like emotional books, but in almost every other way it was amazing.
Between Shades of Gray is a harrowing story that follows Lina's journey as a Lithuanian during the Second World War. It intertwines hope, love, loss, and art beautifully. The subject is not very well-known, so this book is definitely worth reading, if only to learn more about Eastern Europe's history.
Ruta Sepetys has several excellent books, many set during the Second World War and all of them powerful and heartbreaking. A harrowing story of a Lithuanian family - mother Elena, fourteen year old Lina and ten year old Jonas who are deported, first to one labour camp then another, ending up in the brutally harsh conditions of the Arctic Circle.
In Between Shades of Gray, Lina and her family are forced to leave Lithuania and are dragged into a camp car with other people, which was headed towards a prison camp in the wilderness. There, her father was executed, while she and her mother were obliged to perform tasks for the soldiers with barely any food. Lina persistently used her dexterity to try and pass on messages or clues to reach her father, in hopes that her family would be reunited. As time went by, she and many other prisoners were moved again to a cold and isolated platform, leading to deaths of hundreds.
This story has such a well-written outline and teaches about the Stalin occupation in Lithuania. It was so sad to read about what the captives had to endure, and the pain they faced while seeing their loved ones die. Normally, I would recommend good books to everyone, but this historical fiction had many violent references and inappropriate scenes, so I would recommend this to people around 13 and up. Really good story!
In the year 1941, Lina and her family are taken from their home in Lithuania by the Soviet police and placed on a cattle car headed for a prison camp in the remote wilderness of Siberia. Trapped by years of hard labor, she is labeled a political prisoner because of her citizenship to the country she called her home. Unknowing of where her father is or if he is even alive, Lina uses her artistic skills to pass on a series of drawings with the hope to send a message of clues to him. Lina must find enough courage and strength to keep her family not only together, but alive under the cruel reign of Stalin.
This book is beautifully written. It is such a tragic yet hopeful story. It was interesting to read about such a forgotten side of history. The deaths of millions have been neglected but this book has helped to acknowledge the fate of so many. It was very sad and even difficult to read at certain points because I could never imagine having to endure what Lina and her family did, but it only left me more captivated than ever. I highly recommend this book, and I hope many will be able to enjoy it as I did. I think this book is suitable for ages 12-13, but still enjoyable for an older audience
This book was incredible! I read it just a few days after finishing The Book Thief as it was recommended in, “You May Also Like”, and I did like it. It talks about a part of history that isn’t really mentioned that often so I liked the way it opened new perspectives. Wasn’t sure at first where in the world Lithuania was, but then I became really dedicated to reading the book and could barely put it down. Great characters, great story, great subtle romance. Very emotional- I almost cried (which doesn’t really say that much because I cry at every historical fiction ever). I always thought of WWII Russia as good as it was with the Allies, but I never really knew very much about Stalin or what he did. The book really taught me things and was beautifully written. Two thumbs up! A must-read!
Wow! Just Wow! This book was so powerful and beautiful. I hadn't really loved reading historical fiction until I read this book, but Ruta Sepetys changed my mind. The writing is beautiful, and the story describes a part of history forgotten by most of the world. I give it a 5.5/5.YOU NEED TO READ THIS!