Between Shades of Gray
Book - 2011
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9780142420591
9780545503440
9780545486569
Opinion
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Age Suitability
Add Age SuitabilityANABELLE H. PORTER thinks this title is suitable for 13 years and over
Fanatic_Reader27 thinks this title is suitable for 11 years and over
Quotes
Add a Quote“Better that he gets used to it,' he said.
Used to what, the feeling of uncontrolled anger? Or a sadness so deep, like your very core has been hollowed out and fed back to you from a dirty bucket?”
“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch.”
"Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch"
"Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth?
That morning, my brother's was worth a pocket watch."
Page 27
'"One day, someone will catch your eye, Lina, and hopefully when it happens, you won't be so critical."'
Page 139
"We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer."
Page 307
Summary
Add a Summary15 year old Lina and her family are suddenly taken from their home by Soviets. Lina, along with her brother and mother are sent to Siberia to work on collective farms while her father is sent to a prison camp. This story follows her struggle to communicate with her father through her drawings, and to keep hope and stay alive even though her has been destroyed.
Between Shades of Grey is an amazing book about a 15 year old girl in 1941, when a group of Russian officers take her, her mother Elena, her brother Jonas to a railway station with hundreds of others. they were loaded in huge train cars to be deported, but no one knew where.
One night, Lina slips away and finds her father, who believes that they are going to Serbia. lina never sees her father ever again.
Lina and the others are soon in a prison camp that becomes thire home for 10 mouths in Traciak. They are forced to share a tiny hut with a grouchy women who always asked for rent, basically whenever she felt like it. Lina's life becomes a bit better when a boy named Andrius steps in her life to share her countless problems. Lina and the others work hard for hours, gaining only 300 grams of dried bread to survive on. After 10 mouths, the russian officers made groups by dividing some of the people to be sent to the Arctic Circle. Lina Elena and Jonas are on the list, but not Andrius.
Buildings or even huts are not provided for the prisoners in the Arctic, who are forced to build their own shelter with what ever they could find there. Everyday People died. One day, even Jonas got the scurvy and finally help had arrived! A doctor had been alerted about the horrible conditions here and demanded healthcare and food for all the prisoners.
At the End, Lina writes a letter and her drawings in 1954, which is then found in 1995. In this letter, she says she buried her writings ans drawings with hope that someone will find find them so the world will know what happened to 1000s of people like her. She hopes that by sharing this knowledge, these kinds of events shall never be repeated.
Fifteen year-old Lina and her family are ordinary just like any other Lithuanian family in 1941. One night Soviet officers barge into their house and forced them into train cars. There she meets new friends but is separated from her father. Lina is also an aspiring artist and tries to get a message across to her father. Will they survive these cruel conditions and will their hopes keep them alive?
Lina is a victim of the Russian prison camps in Siberia, She has done nothing wrong but is forced into years of imprisonment and hard work. She is a passionate artist who struggles to contact her father through her art.
mvkramer
Sep 27, 2013
It is Lithuania in the 1930's, and Lina Vilkas and her family have been arrested by the Soviet police. Rounded up without warning in the middle of the night, she, her mother and her younger brother are separated from her father and stuffed into a cattle car to be taken to Siberia. Through the following years of privation, hunger, hardship and brutality, Lina and her family strive to hold on to their dignity and goodness.
Lina must be strong for her family and herself while struggling with her world falling a part around her.
This story depicts the struggle of fictional characters in camps and prisons. Lina, her mother, and her brother, Jonas, are separated from her father. They strive to survive in the hopes of returning home.
Notices
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GCPL_Teen
Jun 28, 2017
Sexual Content: While not discussed in detail, there is sexual violence towards female prisoners.
Frightening or Intense Scenes: has some very mature scenes with cruelty towards children
Sexual Content: has rape, a prostitute, and a man groping a young girls breast
Comment
Add a CommentThis book had its ups and downs. For one thing, I definitely enjoyed the beautiful and intriguing writing style and storyline. It puts in perspective just how terrible the world can be. What I found interesting is that the world isn’t really aware of what happened before WW2. The Second World War and all the gruesome things that happened in it is known very well by this generation. But it’s funny how the Soviet era was as brutal and right before World War Two but still we don’t realize how bad it really was. What I loved about this book was how much it made you feel. It was a quick read yet it left you sobbing. I love books that make you feel things. However, I feel like too many people died that you would grow attached to. I know it’s realistic that way and I appreciate that but at the same time I feel that maybe less important people in the story could have died? Overall, I think this book was beautiful.
I read this for my book club; otherwise, I don't know that I'd have been likely to encounter it. For that, I'm grateful. This book tells a story that I think everyone should read. The journey of a girl and her family deported from Lithuania as part of the Soviet takeover - treated like animals and slaves. While the characters are fictional, this story was lived by millions yet I don't ever remember learning about it in any of my history classes (which were very much focused on North America).
The characters are well developed. The narrative voice is genuine. The story is horrifying.
Beautifully written about a dark moment in history. Did not know about this part of World War ll.
Was easily intrigued with the story and the characters.
I remember reading this book in 3 days tops, and I'm not the type of person to read because I don't necessarily enjoy it. But this book was so amazing and I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone that loves a good book about those who have survived WWII and the concentration camps. I was in 10th grade when my dad's girlfriend got me this book and my best friend told me to read it. I knew it had to be good when my best friend told me to read it because she herself never liked to read. Such a wonderful book that'll make you ask yourself "what will happen next?" I cried at the end because I was so happy for what had happened to the author of the book. So please, give this book a try and whatever you do, DO NOT REGRET READING IT BECAUSE IT IS SIMPLY... AMAZING!!!
The writing is suitable for a young adult audience, but the book manages to exude poignancy beyond the genre. It also prompted me to do some research on labor camps and gulags and how they're still possibly prevalent today. The characters are extremely well-developed, although the plot might have been somewhat better put together. In reading the interview and notes at the end of the book, this is seemingly a set of true stories strung and weaved together , albeit very beautifully, into a heart-rending tale.
book becoming a movie in 2018
This book is all sorts of emotions it is happy sad angry funny.Over all I thought this was a great book to read and it also teaches you of how lucky we are.I recommend this book to people that like real true story novels.
A Lithuanian teenager is sent to a Siberian work camp, where she is allowed to create beautiful drawings. She hopes the clues hidden in the drawings will save her life.
This book truly stands out as a great work of historical fiction. The setting, a Siberian labor camp, is a change of pace as so much YA historical fiction focuses on the Holocaust. This setting provides insight into the political climate in the Soviet Union during WWII. Lina is a relatable and sympathetic protagonist.
I truly don't mean to sound flip, but: this was such a downer. WWII books and I have a love/hate relationship -- they tend to be so unrelentingly grim that I emerge from them feeling weepy and glum, but they're also incredibly powerful. And what I appreciated about this book was that, while it is indeed an extremely sad story about awful things happening to a lot of innocent people, Sepetys allows just enough hope to shine through the cracks. I also appreciate any book that shines a light on underreported bits of history, and I don't think the suffering of the Lithuanian people at the hands of Stalin is something that many Americans know that much about. People who loved Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity or Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief will find much to interest them here.