What we loved most about this well-written and gripping story was learning about a piece of history that has been obscured for 50 years. Here is the publisher's description: Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.
I so hope this wins the Printz. I was never much of a history buff so when I find a book that pulls me in and teaches me a little about something I don't know, I love it. I really felt for all the characters. It was also great to watch the book trailer with the author. It amazes me that even she did not know this part of history. Eventhough she had close family member affected (or is it effected? - I can never remember)Stalin's reign.
This was an amazing book that I would recommend to everyone. There is violence, but it directly relates to the story and the circumstances. This book helps shed light on a horrorific historical event in much the same way that The Diary of Anne Frank does. Bellevue Janitorial Services company
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What we loved most about this well-written and gripping story was learning about a piece of history that has been obscured for 50 years. Here is the publisher's description:
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously - and at great risk - documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives. Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.
I so hope this wins the Printz. I was never much of a history buff so when I find a book that pulls me in and teaches me a little about something I don't know, I love it. I really felt for all the characters. It was also great to watch the book trailer with the author. It amazes me that even she did not know this part of history. Eventhough she had close family member affected (or is it effected? - I can never remember)Stalin's reign.
This was an amazing book that I would recommend to everyone. There is violence, but it directly relates to the story and the circumstances. This book helps shed light on a horrorific historical event in much the same way that The Diary of Anne Frank does.
Bellevue Janitorial Services company
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