Between Shades Of Gray
By Author / Illustrator
Ruta Sepetys
Genre
Books set in the past
Publisher
Penguin Random House Children's UK
ISBN
9780141335889
Format
Paperback / softback
Published
07-04-2011
Synopsis
The haunting and powerful Second World War novel by Ruta Sepetys that inspired the feature film, ASHES IN THE SNOW, OUT NOW.
One night fifteen-year-old Lina, her mother and young brother are hauled from their home by Soviet guards, thrown into cattle cars and sent away. They are being deported to Siberia.
An unimaginable and harrowing journey has begun. Lina doesn't know if she'll ever see her father or her friends again. But she refuses to give up hope.
Lina hopes for her family.
For her country.
For her future.
For love - first love, with the boy she barely knows but knows she does not want to lose . . .
Will hope keep Lina alive?
Set in 1941, Between Shades of Gray, is an extraordinary and haunting story based on first-hand family accounts and memories from survivors.
Reviews
Kieran
- Age
12
Ruta Sepetys has written about a horrific, historical time that is hardly ever talked about. The beauty in this book is that hope, strength and compassion shine through against all the odds making the depressing subjects in the book more bearable.
Suggested Reading Age 11+
Kate
- Age
15
The plot overall is an exciting one, the events progress at a fast pace. Which made the story much more thrilling. This pace also highlights the confusion and uncertainty that the people who encountered these events in real life felt.
Suggested Reading Age 5+
Josh
- Age
15
The book is brilliantly written with imagery giving enough of a picture to get your mind started, and leaves it to generate the rest of the picture. Every patch of ground, every protruding bone, every emotion lightly flickering across a face, nothing is left un-addressed. The angle that is normally ignored in favour of Stalin being a good ally in World War II is the angle seen through the eyes of someone who was there, staring into the cold, unfeeling face of Soviet expansion. Between Shades of Gray is more than a love story based in the stomach-rending conditions of NKVD camps, it is a historic account that happens to contain some very well-incorporated romantic elements. The cathartic feeling in parts is unreal.
Suggested Reading Age 5+
Kiss Of Death
Street Child
The Machine Gunners
Mercy (PB)
