Occasionally I pick up a book to read that is so emotionally heavy and unforgettable that I know it won’t be a book that will easily escape my memory. Years from now I will still remember it as a really great book. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is that book for me this year. History is not my strong suit so I was easily led down a road I had not been down before. Unfortunately, it was not a pleasant road to go down. As a general rule, I think a good majority of us take our peaceful lives for granted. We eat, sleep and relax where and when we want, surrounded by running toilets, electricity, and all the things our lives of leisure bring us.

It’s difficult to imagine being pulled out of our homes, in the dead night, by soldiers screaming at us in a language that we cannot even understand. Crammed into a train with dozens of people that we have never met before and a life that will now involve little rest, food, bathrooms, and even simple, common courtesy. The author, Ruta Sepetys, puts the reader there though in her novel. Once you are there, you cannot leave.

You will live the reality of Lina and her family, Lithuania’s, forced to endure hardships, and cruelty our minds cannot even comprehend under the leadership of Joseph Stalin. Hitler was killing the Jewish people and Stalin was killing the Lithuanians. I wasn’t even a part of this time period and I feel I want to apologize to the millions of people that suffered under the reign of both of these men.

Ruta Sepetys is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee. I commend her on telling this story. It could not have been an easy story to write but I’m so glad she did and I hope you will agree. It’s here at our library waiting for you.