Before writing the book, ruta took two trips to lithuania. Between shades of gray symbols and motifs supersummary. In world war 2 people got deported from lithuania to siberia under the rule of stalin. My rating protagonist and antagonist continued setting theme this is what the prisoners looked like and did while at camps. Ruta sepetyss between shades of gray hits the big screen. Its impossible to read between shades of gray and not think about how youd cope in her situation.
The setting in the novel between shades of gray, mirrors the particular age in history. There is no real resolution or end to the story it just stops without allowing the reader to gain any sense of where the main character or anyone else is at the end. She met with family members, survivors of the deportations, etc. She is arrested alongside her mother, elena, and tenyearold brother jonas. Between shades of gray summary in june of 1941, fifteenyearold lina vilkas is arrested by the soviet secret police, the nkvd, from her home in kaunas, lithuania. Learn more at about the author born and raised in michigan, ruta sepetys is the daughter of a lithuanian refugee.
Between shades of gray quotes from litcharts the creators. Between shades of gray is a riveting novel that steals your breath, captures your heart, and reveals the miraculous nature of the human spirit. The power of love the main theme of between shades of gray, and the biggest lesson lina must learn, is that even in the face of great suffering, brutality, and hate, love is the better choice. Takes her home when shes drunk, changes her when shes so intoxicated she doesnt remember him doing so,and informs her he will be keeping tabs on her for. Between shades of gray summary from litcharts the creators.
Between shades of gray by ruta sepetys is a deeply moving, compelling, heartwrenching, and a powerful read which is beautifully written that captured my heart from the very first chapter. This book gets a strong 3 for a variety of reasons. This was definitely another pageturner and extremely hard to put down. The between shades of grey quiz goodreads share book. Twenty million people were murdered under his leadership. In 1941, fifteenyearold lina, her mother, and brother are pulled from their lithuanian home by soviet guards and sent to siberia, where her father is sentenced. In this book, you will venture with lina as she goes through many hardships, emotional and physical. It follows the stalinist repressions of the mid 20th. Get all the key plot points of ruta sepetyss between shades of gray on one page.
The title of the book is between shades of gray, and these shades of gray can refer to several things. Lina had to make the picture flattering but every time she looked at the commander all she saw was smoke and snakes crawling out of a grey skull lina and jonas went to the back of the n. Between shades of gray, a new york times best seller, is the debut novel of american novelist ruta sepetys. A tiny sliver of gold appeared between shades of gray on the horizon. In june of 1941, fifteenyearold lina vilkas is arrested by the soviet secret police, the nkvd, from her home in. Between shades of gray is a wonderful historical fiction novel. Shades of gray questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on shades of gray. In between shades of gray, the nkvd are described as the following. The memoirs were thought to be lost, but in 1991, the jar was discovered and unearthed. Between shades of gray by ruta sepetys central rappahannock. Download the full discussion guide read an excerpt. Shades of gray is a young adolescent book set immediately after americas civil war.
She has an interest in the world, her friends, and boys. We know a lot about what is happening in america and germany during wwii, but what is happening in lithuania. At the book s end, readers may want to learn more about what happened in the baltics. Her novels, between shades of gray and out of the easy are both new york times bestsellers. This is where the train cars carrying the men are split off from the main train and where lina applies to. They wore blue hats with a red border and a gold star. Clusters of decrepit oneroom cabins formed a shanty village. Between shades of gray brings to light a period of ww2 history that has been overlooked or forgotten. Litcharts makes it easy to find quotes by chapter, character, and theme.
Sepetys is very deliberate in her framing of love as a choice one makes. Sepetys is considered a crossover novelist as her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Mar 12, 2015 in the book between shades of gray, ruta sepetys doesnt alter the settings of the novel. From there they travel to belarus, russia, siberia, the north pole, and various labor camps. There are many settings in the book that are similar to ones in real life like lithuania, the cattle cars, and siberia. What is the setting of between shades of gray by ruta sepetys. The train ride took them east stopping at the altai. The first is linas mothers gray coat, into which she has sewn jewelry, papers, silver, and other valuables 31 in preparation for the familys escape from sovietoccupied lithuania. It follows the stalinist repressions of the mid20th. Between shades of gray literary elements gradesaver. The vilkas family originally lives in lithuania, a european country, near latvia and poland.
Belarus, lina, and her family pass through to get to russia and then siberia. Check out between shades of gray at the book depository. Richard peck, newbery awardwinning author of a year down yonder between shades of gray is a story of astonishing force. In the first camp they visit, the atlai beet farm lina describes it as. Overall, the story of between shades of gray takes place in the european and asian continents. Minor characters are memorably and vividly drawn, and the first half of the book, in particular, roars along. The time period of the story begins in 1941, just before the ending of world war ii. The book trail between shades of gray the book trail. The novel, between shades of gray, mirrors the time period it took place in. Safe in the first few chapters of the novel, christian grey tracks anas cell phone to find her at a club. The action of the novel begins at the beginning of the second world war when lithuania and other countries were taken by. Recommended resources discussion guide between shades of gray.
Apr 03, 2012 between shades of gray is a document long overdue. Sep 10, 2010 between shades of gray is a riveting novel that steals your breath, captures your heart, and reveals the miraculous nature of the human spirit. Sepetys father is a lithuanian immigrant, and her heritage inspired her first novel, between shades of gray. The main character, twelveyearold william page, finds himself an orphan after the war and is sent to live. It follows the stalinist repressions of the mid20th century and follows the life of lina as she is deported from her native lithuania with her mother and younger brother, and the journey they take to a labor camp in siberia.
Between shades of gray questions and answers the question and answer sections of our study guides are a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss literature. She is a precocious young lady but has the tendency to be impulsive with her words, which can get her into trouble at times. Between shades of gray summary from litcharts the creators of. In the book between the shades of gray, ruta sepetys gives a very compelling account of the soviet invasion of the country of lithuania in 1941. Once they cross the ural mountains is when they start to visit the labor camps. In the book between shades of gray, ruta sepetys doesnt alter the settings of the novel. Between shades of gray is a beautiful and sometimes heartwrenching book. Sep 22, 2014 its made all the worse when you read that sepetys based some of the events in the book from stories that actual survivors recounted to her. The between shades of gray community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Lina is just like any other fifteenyearold lithuanian girl in 1941. This study guide consists of approximately 32 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character. The screenplay was written by ben york jones, but sepetys was an active collaborator in making the film adaptation of between shades of gray, serving as executive producer and traveling to. Jul 19, 2016 in america, we grew up hearing about hitler and the holocaust, but stalin, the leader of one of our allies, was carrying out mass deportations, too, and many of those people died in the work camps and prisons they were sent to. Official book website for between shades of gray by ruta sepetys.
I feel grateful for a writer like ruta sepetys who bravely tells the hard story of what happens to the innocent when world leaders and their minions choose hate and. Lina is just like any other fifteenyearold lithuanian. Mar 22, 2011 the building, readers learn later, is the islam peace center, where jesse must do her community service for her crime. The gray wood was bald, shaved by many seasons of wind and snow. Between shades of gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart. Until one night when soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life theyve known. Between shades of gray official book website for between. This book, published by peirene press, is an english translation of grinkeviciutes original memoirs that provided the general framework for between shades of gray. D barracks to get her reward for the portrait, the officers threw the bread and potatoes at them, then started throwing garbage. Between these plot points, the author elegantly transitions between the gripping descriptions of alia and travis trying to survive and jesse almost falling into the abyss of generational hatred of islam.
For christmas lina gave andrius a drawing she made of him, and andrius gave her a book, dickens dombey and son andrius came running into the vilkas hut saying that the n. Between shades of gray by elizabeth anderson on prezi. Between shades of gray study guide from litcharts the creators. The between shades of grey quiz share book recommendations. Aug 15, 2012 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. Download between shades of gray pdf if you want to download between shades of gray pdf then here is between shades of gray pdf for you. We assign a color and icon like this one to each theme, making it easy to track which themes apply to each quote below. The between shades of gray community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and. Before the 2nd ww began the communist dictator stalin, knew war with the nazis was looming and had concerns about the baltic countries abilities to protect the russian border from hitler. Lina vilkas is the protagonist of the book between shades of gray. D were coming for her, they wanted her to paint a portrait of the commander. This study guide consists of approximately 32 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of between shades of gray. Readers will readily identify with lina, whos abruptly ripped out of her comfortable life.
The book explained in great detail the sacrifices, the fear, and the pain that these lithuanians faced. Lists of people who were considered enemies of the state were compiled and these people were removed from their homes and workplaces. Her father kostas has been arrested earlier, and they dont know where he is. Though the picture, from, is faded, you can see the border and the star, matching to what sepetys described. During world war 2, the soviet union red army and the germany nazis were battling over the baltic states for power. They started from lithuania and ended up in a concentration camp in siberia and the novel described the whole travel and setting just like in history. In the novel lina starts out in the country she was born, lithuania. Ruta sepetys is an internationally acclaimed author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Apr 29, 20 so let me explain why this book was devoid of all three of these things. Author ruta sepetys talks about the true history behind.
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