Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

An often-ignored aspect of World War II history is the story of the Eastern European countries that got swallowed by the Soviet Union and remained behind the Iron Curtain until the 1990’s. If one only looks at the casualty count, Stalin’s brutality exceeds that of Hitler. When I’ve mentioned that fact to my students, someone inevitably asks why they have never heard of him. And, I have some guesses, but no real good answer. Perhaps because the Soviet Union was our ally during the War? Perhaps because there were many communist sympathizers in the United States? Perhaps because the USSR was such a formidable adversary that it took sixty years of a Cold War to overcome it? My best guess is that Hitler’s systematic and efficient attempt to wipe the Jewish population and culture off the face of Europe through gas chambers and crematoriums defies his humanity. Even the gulag, by all accounts a horrific system of labor camps intended to work its inmates to death, seems to pale in comparison to the philosophy behind Auschwitz.

The young adult novel Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys addresses this largely forgotten era. The beginning of World War II in Lithuania saw the protagonist Lina looking forward to studying the arts, but when the NKVD invades their home one night and throws her family onto a truck, she must learn to quickly adjust. As the family is taken to a labor camp deep inside of the Soviet Union, Lena discovers that she can hold onto hope through her art. She also learns to admire her mother who seems to have a knack for finding the humanity in the most hardened of souls.

The author’s note tells the reader that the author spent a great deal of time interviewing Lithuanians who had lived under Soviet rule, and her research certainly shows in her novel. While never failing to show that survival was possible, Lina’s story convinced me of the horror of the Stalinist reign.
A fascinating and realistic book for students grade 8 and above. Shades of Gray has been nominated for the 2013 RI Teen Book Award.