Between Shades of Gray

 “You’re reading it for fun?” my friend asked incredulously when I told her I was reading a book about Lithuanian refugees dragged from their homes to a work camp in Siberia by Soviet soldiers in 1941. There’s really no explanation for why I’m reading Between Shades of Gray by Rita Sepetys, except that I like historical fiction, I wanted to learn more about this time period, and it got good reviews on Goodreads. 

"Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both." —The Washington Post 

The book is a New York Times bestseller as well, and I thought maybe it would be a good suggestion for students of mine interested in World War II. According to Amazon, this young adult book is intended for readers aged 12-17. Maybe... but deeply disturbing graphic descriptions of harrowing living conditions, inhumanity, and sexual references make it inappropriate for my fifth graders.

Told through the eyes of 16-year-old Lina, deported with her mother and brother because of her father’s politics, this story is bleak and heartbreaking. It paints a wretched picture of  “Stalin’s brutal dismantling of the Baltic region.” Details of the devastating conditions and harsh treatment of the prisoners reflect an unsettling account of "what happens to the innocent when world leaders and their minions choose hate and oppression." —Susan Campbell Bartlett, Newbery Honor-winning author of Hitler Youth

The movie adaptation, Ashes in the Snow, is an equally stark but beautifully filmed narrative of how, “One girl’s passion for art and her never-ending hope will break the silence of history.”