Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

If you like to learn about history when you read a book, but also like a quick read and a riveting story, Between Shades of Gray is the book for you.

If you enjoyed reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and other historical fiction books about the Holocaust and WW II, you will race through this book.

I never knew Lithuanians were deported from their country during WW II, but in this historical novel I learned that fifteen-year-old Lina and her family were taken from their comfortable home in Lithuania and sent to a cold, bleak camp where they were forced to pick beets all day and had to sleep on wooden planks at night. Beatings and shootings came randomly from guards who were unpredictable at best. And if these conditions weren't bad enough, Lina and her family were again taken and sent to Siberia.

Siberia - where it is dark half of the year and incredibly cold! Here they didn't even have a hut to sleep in and disease swept through the prisoners.

However, courage, love, and resilience shine throughout this book. I am very glad I read this book and I think you will be, too.