Between Shades of Gray

By: Ruta Sepetys

Narrated by: Emily Klein

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

An international best seller, a number-one New York Times best seller, and now a major motion picture!

Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray is now the film Ashes in the Snow!

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

From New York Times and international best seller and Carnegie Medal winner Ruta Sepetys, author of Salt to the Sea, comes a story of loss and of fear - and ultimately, of survival.

A New York Times notable book

An international best seller

A Carnegie Medal nominee

A William C. Morris Award finalist

A Golden Kite Award winner

Fifteen-year-old Lina is a Lithuanian girl living an ordinary life - until Soviet officers invade her home and tear her family apart. Separated from her father and forced onto a crowded train, Lina, her mother, and her young brother make their way to a Siberian work camp, where they are forced to fight for their lives. Lina finds solace in her art, documenting these events by drawing. Risking everything, she imbeds clues in her drawings of their location and secretly passes them along, hoping her drawings will make their way to her father's prison camp. But will strength, love, and hope be enough for Lina and her family to survive? A moving and haunting novel perfect for fans of The Book Thief.

Praise for Between Shades of Gray:

"Superlative. A hefty emotional punch." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Heart-wrenching... an eye-opening reimagination of a very real tragedy written with grace and heart." (The Los Angeles Times)

"At once a suspenseful, drama-packed survival story, a romance, and an intricately researched work of historial fiction." (The Wall Street Journal)

"Beautifully written and deeply felt... An important book that deserves the widest possible readership." (Booklist, starred review)

©2011 Ruta Sepetys (P)2011 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Winner, Indies Choice Book Award

“Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both.” (The Washington Post)

"Beautiful...a superb though grueling novel.” (The Wall Street Journal)

Great read

I don't normally read historical fiction, but I had this book reccomend to me. I actually enjoyed it a lot!

excellent book for teens

excellent book that should be used in a high school English class. many topics raised that could be used for class discussion.

very different than other books about WW2 in that it is told primarily via dialogue between people and much lighter on description of details. this helps to protect the more naive reader from the absolute brutality of a Hitler, or in this case, Stalin regime.

Difficult to hear but important history

About half way through, I realized why the narrator who sounded so high pitched and girly was the voice of the story. Up until then, I had thought it was odd bc the story is so gruesome and dark. And I wanted some hint of something good to happen for the family. It seemed to go on and on but the characters developed and I wanted to know what happened to them. It was at about chapter 55 that it all made sense to me, the perspective being of a 15-16-year old girl being thrown from a comfortable life into an impossible survivor situation. I’m glad the author told this story. People should know what happened and why this part of history was never told. It is a hard story to hear and incredibly, you begin to see how the point the author was making overshadows hearing the endless atrocities and sad outcomes. Really, it is about hope, the incredible human spirit, and love of life, freedom, one another and the characters representing the real people who experienced it. May God bless them for all they had to endure.

amazing

loved it. great book and very informative. good for teenagers and adults. great to start discussions

HORRIBLE NARRATOR

I read other reviews commenting on the narrator and still gave it a chance. I had to stop listening after just a few minutes because it truly is that bad. So disappointed since this seems like a great book!

Heartbreaking but worthwhile

I love that this author tells stories I’ve never heard. This story is devastating and also redemptive.

SO HEARTBREAKING 😢

wow this book makes me think about not only the enemies did wrong things, even the allies did too ...

so heartbreaking this story I fall in love with the protagonist who loved draw a lot and document everything through her draws....

Should be added to ALL must read lists!!!

Any additional comments?

This is a first book by this author, but she has started with a complete gem of a book! In my opinion, this book should be added to everyone's reading list along with "The Diary of Ann Frank" ! Think Ann Frank and the movie, "Life is Beautiful", because this story is full of the inhuman horrors that one group of people inflect onto another group of people----BUT, it is also a story of hope and survival through people loving and keeping others alive through love and sacrifice.

Although this is a fictional 15 year old narrator, Sepetys has created this girl from extensive research of Stalin's Soviet invasion of Lithuania. Millions of people were taken from their homes to be killed or transported to work camps in Russian outposts. In Sepety's story, Lina , her mother, and her 10 year old brother, survive a six week cattle car trip to a work post, just to be transported via barge to an Soviet outpost in the Arctic. Lina uses her artistic talent to draw pictures of all that happens along the way. She also writes letters telling the "truth" of all that happens.

Though this book may sound very depressing, the real feelings evoked are love, hope and survival through giving and sacrifice for others. We also learn a great deal of how Stalin killed or caused the deaths of more than 20 million people. Those who are survivors or relatives of survivors will never forget those attrosities---nor should others were not involved. Though the biggest thing that one may get from this book is that we ARE all involved if we choose to call ourselves human beings in this world!

A must read

Millennials and the rest of us always tend to think the world revolves around us. We think our struggles are just unfathomable...this changes everything! My gosh! I needed this as a wake-up call! There are NO bad days, unless we lose a loved one or limb in today's world.

These people suffered at a level I hope that I can never comprehend. We have seriously got to wake up and realize what precious people endured and also remember that HISTORY repeats itself. The author and wrote all the characters so beautifully. I did loathe the bald man... what a jerk. I also think the narrator had a super pleasant voice. Just excellent. I cried...a lot.

Loved it.

Not associated with Fifty Shades

Sadly, this is book that everyone should read even though the title makes you think Fifty Shades. It is about family that was taken from their Lithuanian home during World War II. They were treated as criminals and sent to Siberia. The strength it took to live through it and survive.