Ruta Sepetys

Ruta Sepetys is an extraordinary author who has written a few books, which are all compelling historical fiction books. She tends to write to both entertain and inform people. Ruta does this through manipulating the stories of Lithuanian citizens during World War Two. Her books Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea are both undoubtedly similar yet different stories about the fight against the Russians.

Ruta Sepetys is a witty author who has written three historical fiction books. Her first books, Between Shades of Gray and Out of the Easy, were both New York Times best sellers. The third, Salt to the Sea, was published just this year. Her first and second book have both been published in 54 countries and in 33 languages. This nationally

This book is about a girl named Lina, who is forced to leave her home in Lithuania along with her family during World War Two. After Russian officers storm their house, Lina is alongside her mother and younger brother when they involuntarily are shoved into a cattle car with many other captive women and children, the train is destined for Siberia. After being violently separated her father gets locked inside an all male car, they never see him again. During the miserable train ride, Lina becomes friends with a young boy named Andrius. Throughout their journey, Lina’s family and Andrius are the only reason she keeps her will to survive. After many long weeks trapped inside the dark cattle car, their train arrives at a prison camp in Siberia. It becomes Lina’s home for nearly a year, until selected prisoners are shipped off to a new prison camp in the Arctic Circle. Lina and her family are torn from the camp to go to the Arctic Circle, but Andrius is left behind. Their new imprisonment is brutal work throughout the cold, dark months. Soon the news comes telling that their father had been executed, causing her mother to lose faith and soon die. A short time after, her brother falls sick and dies, and her only hope left is Andrius. Finally, after many harsh months in the dark “a tiny sliver of gold appeared in between the shades of grey on the horizon,” giving Lina hope. This is the first time she had seen the

I would recommend both Between Shades of Gray and Salt to the Sea to young adults interested in war stories. These books don’t show how hard the way war is on the soldiers, but instead how devastating it was to the citizens. Ruta Sepetys’ books are historical fiction, making them not only interesting but extremely informative. For example, many people have never heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff, yet it was the largest maritime disaster in history. Ruta’s books all are very engaging stories that lead up to an overall idea of the struggles Lithuanians faced during the second world war. I would recommend Ruta Sepetys’ books because, as Elizabeth Wein exclaimed, “Ruta Sepetys is a master of historical