Between Shades of Gray

Between Shades of Gray

Written by Ruta Sepetys
Image Accessed 11/13/2013 from
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7824322-between-shades-of-gray

Summary

Between Shades of Gray is the bleak, bitter story of Lina and her family as they are taken from their home in 1941 Lithuania by the Soviet Secret Police and sent to perform hard labor in prison camps in Siberia. This novel explores the little known story of the oppression of the Lithuanians during WWII and through Lina, readers come to see a new facet to the horror of war as well as the knowledge that even in the most dire of circumstances, love will always grow.

Critical Analysis

Not just another Holocaust novel, Between Shades of Gray sets itself apart from the well-known stories of World War II and focuses on the little known oppression of the supposed “anti-Soviets” of Lithuania. According to Sepetys, who is the daughter of Lithuanian refugees, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia “disappeared from the maps in 1941 and did not reappear until 1990” (Sepetys, 2011). This harrowing book helps readers comprehend that while the Soviets were our allies during WWII, Stalin committed genocide of an estimated 20 million people and countries were swallowed up with international consent and not heard from again for 50 years.

Between Shades of Grey follows 15 year old Lina as her, her younger brother Jonas and her mother make the forced, brutal journey from their upper-class home in Kaunas, Lithuania to Trefimovsk, Siberia – at the top of the Artic Circle. Flashbacks from budding artist Lina’s memories allow readers a glimpse of the normal cares and thoughts of a teenager, but as the story progresses, the reader begins to see beyond the normalcy of the flashbacks and understand the current of the war had invaded her home well before her family was forcibly abducted. Lina’s ingenuity and worry makes her a relatable heroine. Lina’s little brother Jonas plucks at the readers heartstrings and helps Lina grow in self reliance and strength – but it is in Lina’s mother that readers experience grace and dignity. Lina’s mother provides a shining example of humanity in a world gone wrong and her dignity occasionally has the strength to bolster those around her – especially her daughter Lina. When Lina’s mother finally succumbs to illness and starvation in Siberia, my heart broke when Lina opened up her mother’s suitcase only to discover that she has been carrying around an outfit of clean, stylish cloths so that she could dress beautifully when reunited with her husband. The level of hope and love contained in that single suitcase is so immense that readers understand that Lina’s mother never gave into the fear that her husband had been killed or the doubt that they would never be reunited.

With it’s intense plot, readers of Between Shades of Gray follow the path the Lithuanian prisoners took while being sent to Siberia. Peppered throughout the story, Lina and her mother struggle for the survival of their family and Lina uses her artistic skill to earn her family food, learn Russian and to communicate with other prisoners and fall in love. The realistic portrayal of humanity colors Lina’s journey as she experiences the best and the worst humanity has to offer. There is absolutely no sugarcoating within the pages of Between Shades of Gray. The constant struggle, toil, hardships, starvation and bitter, bitter cold experienced by Lina and her family is constant and pervasive but the moments of kindness, community and romance flare up like candles in the night providing an all-to-brief illumination of love that existed in this barren time.

The setting of Between Shades of Gray is brutally realistic and Sepety’s precisely researched her story to reflect the time period – the dresses, the trains, the uniforms and the climate all paint a vivid portrait of Siberia in the 1940s. Through two research trips to Lithuania, hundreds of interviews of personal accounts of Siberian deportees, a myriad of books and interviews with doctors and psychologists who tended survivors, Sepetys crafted a fictional set of characters that experienced documented and factual events. Through Sepety’s use of style readers understand that Between Shades of Grey is a story of love, because no matter the circumstances, no matter the condition, love can grow anywhere – even in Siberia.

Connections

Lois Lowery’s Number the Stars is a classic, exquisite tale of the Holocaust as experienced by the Danish Jews. Like Between Shades of Grey, Number the Stars expresses the extreme range of highs and lows of World War II and the strength of friendship and family during this time of extreme persecution.

Awards

•   A Carnegie Medal Nominee

•   A William C. Morris Finalist

•   A New York Times Notable Book

•   A Wall Street Journal Best Children’s Book

•   Winner of The Golden Kite Award for Fiction

•   An ALA Notable Book

•   A Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of 2011

•   YALSA’s Top 10 Best Fiction For Young Adults

•   A School Library Journal Best Book of 2011

•   A Booklist Best Book of 2011

•   A Kirkus Best Book of 2011

•   iTunes Best Teen Novel of 2011

•   A Junior Library Guild Selection

•   Notable Books For a Global Society Award

•   An Indies Choice Book Awards Finalist

Reviews

Publishers Weekly (01/03/2011):
Through the pained yet resilient narration of 15-year-old Lina, a gifted artist, this taut first novel tells the story of Lithuanians deported and sent to Siberian work camps by Stalin during WWII. From the start, Sepetys makes extensive use of foreshadowing to foster a palpable sense of danger, as soldiers wrench Lina's family from their home. The narrative skillfully conveys the deprivation and brutality of conditions, especially the cramped train ride, unrelenting hunger, fears about family members' safety, impossible choices, punishing weather, and constant threats facing Lina, her mother, and her younger brother. Flashbacks, triggered like blasts of memory by words and events, reveal Lina's life before and lay groundwork for the coming removal. Lina's romance with fellow captive Andrius builds slowly and believably, balancing some of the horror. A harrowing page-turner, made all the more so for its basis in historical fact, the novel illuminates the persecution suffered by Stalin's victims (20 million were killed), while presenting memorable characters who retain their will to survive even after more than a decade in exile.


Kirkus Reviews (01/15/2011):

This bitterly sad, fluidly written historical novel tackles a topic woefully underdiscussed in English-language children's fiction: Joseph Stalin's reign of terror. On June 14th, 1941, Soviet officers arrest 15-year-old Lina, her younger brother and her mother and deport them from Lithuania to Siberia. Their crammed-full boxcar is labeled, ludicrously, "Thieves and Prostitutes." They work at a frigid gulag for eight months—hungry, filthy and brutalized by Soviet officers—before being taken to the Siberian Arctic and left without shelter. Lina doesn't know the breadth of Stalin's mass deportations of Baltic citizens, but she hears scraps of discussion about politics and World War II. Cold, starvation, exhaustion and disease (scurvy, dysentery, typhus) claim countless victims. Lina sketches urgently, passing her drawings along to other deportees, hoping they'll reach Papa in a Soviet prison. Brief flashbacks, seamlessly interwoven, illuminate Lina's sweet old life in Kaunas like flashes of light, eventually helping to reveal why the repressive, deadly regime targeted this family. Sepetys' flowing prose gently carries readers through the crushing tragedy of this tale that needs telling.

Booklist (02/01/2011):

Grades 7-12 *Starred Review* Sepetys first novel offers a harrowing and horrifying account of the forcible relocation of countless Lithuanians in the wake of the Russian invasion of their country in 1939. In the case of 16-year-old Lina, her mother, and her younger brother, this means deportation to a forced-labor camp in Siberia, where conditions are all too painfully similar to those of Nazi concentration camps. Linas great hope is that somehow her father, who has already been arrested by the Soviet secret police, might find and rescue them. A gifted artist, she begins secretly creating pictures that she hopes can be surreptitiously sent to him in his own prison camp. Whether or not this will be possible, it is her art that will be her salvation, helping her to retain her identity, her dignity, and her increasingly tenuous hold on hope for the future. Many others are not so fortunate. Sepetys, the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, estimates that the Baltic States lost more than one-third of their populations during the Russian genocide. Though many continue to deny this happened, Sepetys beautifully written and deeply felt novel proves the reality is otherwise. Hers is an important book that deserves the widest possible readership

School Library Journal (03/01/2011):

Gr 8 Up—This novel is based on extensive research and inspired by the author's family background. Told by 15-year-old Lina, a Lithuanian teen with penetrating insight and vast artistic ability, it is a gruesome tale of the deportation of Lithuanians to Siberia starting in 1939. During her 12 years there, Lina, a strong, determined character, chronicles her experiences through writings and drawings. She willingly takes chances to communicate with her imprisoned father and to improve her family's existence in inhuman conditions. Desperation, fear, and the survival instinct motivate many of the characters to make difficult compromises. Andrius, who becomes Lina's love interest, watches as his mother prostitutes herself with the officers in order to gain food for her son and others. To ward off starvation, many sign untrue confessions of guilt as traitors, thereby accepting 25-year sentences. Those who refuse, like Lina, her younger brother, and their mother, live on meager bread rations given only for the physical work they are able to perform. This is a grim tale of suffering and death, but one that needs telling. Mention is made of some Lithuanians' collaboration with the Nazis, but for the most part the deportees were simply caught in a political web. Unrelenting sadness permeates this novel, but there are uplifting moments when the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity for compassion take over. This is a gripping story that gives young people a window into a shameful, but likely unfamiliar history.

References

Booklist 02/01/2011 pg. 68 (EAN 9780399254123, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Kirkus Reviews 01/15/2011 (EAN 9780399254123, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Lowry, Lois. 1989. Number the Stars. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN 9780395510605

Publishers Weekly 01/03/2011 (EAN 9780399254123, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

School Library Journal 03/01/2011 pg. 170 (EAN 9780399254123, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Sepetys, Ruta. 2011. Between Shades of Gray. New York, NY: Philomel Books. ISBN 9780399254123