Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. New York: Philomel, 2011. Ebook.
Summary
“We were taken.” (9)
It is 1941 in Lithuania, just after the Russian
occupation, when suddenly the NKVD pounds on 15-year old Lina’s door. Within 20
minutes, Lina Vilkas, her mother Elena, and her younger brother Jonas are taken
from their house for deportation. Lina’s father was not home at the time, and
the family was separated. Through a long and painful journey, filled with
horrible conditions, Lina, her mother, and Jonas were eventually sent to a camp
located in the Arctic Circle. Lina’s father was sent to a Russian prison, and
throughout her journey, artist Lina tries to send coded messages to her father.
Critical
Analysis
Between
Shades of Gray takes place during World War II when
Russia occupied Lithuania and surrounding countries. The NKVD arrested and
deported people that were suspected of going against Stalin and the Russian
government. Lina’s father, who works at the university, was accused of helping
others escape Lithuania; therefore the whole Vilkas family was arrested. Lina
and her family faced cruelty and sadness throughout their imprisonment, and
were forced to live in squalid conditions, with no thought for humanity.
Despite the sadness of the book, a message of hope is delivered, and that
kindness might come from the most unexpected places.
Strengths
and Weaknesses
In Between
Shades of Gray, Sepetys artfully combines the real events of the Soviet
occupation with a fictional family. In the author’s note, she lets the reader
know that she used information she gathered from survivors and their families.
The strength of the novel is how real events are tied in to the fictional
characters; the reader gets an incredible picture of how life was like for the
deportees. One weakness of the story was the ending was a little confusing and
rushed. The reader invests so much time and emotion on Lina and her family, and
more detail in the ending would have been good.
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