Sepetys, Ruta: Between Shades of Gray

What an experience this book was!!! It took me on a long and gruesome journey of deportation from Lithuania in 1941 to Siberia to end on the Arctic circle. The main character, Lena, 15 at the beginning of the story will not give up on her will to survive hardest work, starvation, diseases and death around her. Whether she finds her strength in her drawings depicting the people around her and hoping they will reach her father, or in her youth, anger at all the injustices she experiences, she strives at remaining true to herself. Extremely well written, the author succeeded in intertwining the present horrors to memories remembered by Lena which might have helped her to go each day a bit further. The story swirls in constant tension. However, the chapters are short which allowed me to breathe out and relax.Excellent read!

A novel that breaks a long forced silence. A portion of history hidden. A story of survival under the most brutal of conditions. The displaced peoples of Lithuania, Estonia and Russia all suffered under the murderous tyranny of Joseph Stalin. A worthy record of suffering and eventual triumph over evil.