Between Shades of Gray

Blurb

Between Shades of Gray, a New York Times Bestseller, is the debut novel of American novelist Ruta Sepetys. It follows the Stalinist repressions of the mid-20th 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 work-camp in Siberia. It was nominated for the 2012 CILIP Carnegie Medal and has been translated into more than 27 languages.
Between Shades of Gray was originally intended as a young adult novel, but there have been several adult publications. In an interview with ThirstforFiction, Ruta Sepetys said that the reason she intended Between Shades of Gray to be a young adult novel was because she met many survivors in Lithuania who were themselves teenagers during the deportations, and had a greater will to live than many of their adult counterparts at the time.