Between Shades of Gray

Chapter 1:

They took me in my nightgown.
Thinking back, the signs were there family photos burned in the fireplace, Mother sewing her best silver and jewelry into the lining of her coat late at night, and Papa not returning from work. My younger brother, Jonas, was asking questions. I asked questions, too, but perhaps I refused to acknowledge the signs. Only later did I realize that Mother and Father intended we escape. We did not escape.
We were taken.
June 14, 1941. I had changed into my nightgown and settled in at my desk to write my cousin Joana a letter. I opened a new ivory writing tablet and a case of pens and pencils, a gift from my aunt for my fifteenth birthday.
The evening breeze floated through the open window over my desk, waltzing the curtain from side to side. I could smell the lily of the valley that Mother and I had planted two years ago. Dear Joana.
It wasn t a knocking. It was an urgent booming that made me jump in my chair. Fists pounded on our front door. No one stirred inside the house. I left my desk and peered out into the hallway. My mother stood flat against the wall facing our framed map of Lithuania, her eyes closed and her face pulled with an anxiety I had never seen. She was praying.
Mother, said Jonas, only one of his eyes visible through the crack in his door, are you going to open it? It sounds as if they might break it down.
Mother s head turned to see both Jonas and me peering out of our rooms. She attempted a forced smile. Yes, darling. I will open the door. I won t let anyone break down our door.
The heels of her shoes echoed down the wooden floor of the hallway and her long, thin skirt swayed about her ankles. Mother was elegant and beautiful, stunning in fact, with an unusually wide smile that lit up everything around her. I was fortunate to have Mother s honey-colored hair and her bright blue eyes. Jonas had her smile.
Loud voices thundered from the foyer.
NKVD! whispered Jonas, growing pale. Tadas said they

Ruta Sepetys

Praise for Between Shades of Gray:

A superlative first novel. A hefty emotional punch. --The New York Times Book Review

Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both. --The Washington Post

"Beautiful a superb though grueling novel. --The Wall Street Journal

An eye-opening reimagination of a very real tragedy written with grace and heart. --Los Angeles Times

An engrossing and poignant story of the fortitude of the human spirit in a dark time in Lithuanian history. --Associated Press

  Brave Lina is a heroine young and old readers can believe in. --Entertainment Weekly

  Please read this small window into a tragedy. --NPR

Beautifully written and researched, it captures the devastation of war while celebrating the will to survive. --Family Circle

* A harrowing page-turner. --Publishers Weekly, starred review

* A gripping story. --School Library Journal, starred review

* Bitterly sad, fluidly written Sepetys' flowing prose gently carries readers. --Kirkus, starred review

* "Beautifully written and deeply felt an important book that deserves the widest possible readership. --Booklist, starred review

A haunting chronicle, demonstrating that even in the heart of darkness love is the most powerful army.' --The Horn Book Magazine

Stalin deported and murdered millions, but he could not destroy the seeds of memory, compassion, and art that they left behind. From those seeds, Ruta Septeys has crafted a brilliant story of love and survival that will keep their memory alive for generations to come. --Laurie Halse Anderson, bestselling author of Speak and Wintergirls

In terrifying detail, Ruta Sepetys re-creates World War II coming of age all too timely today. Between Shades of Gray is a document long overdue. --Richard Peck, Newbery Award winning author of A Year Down Yonder

Between Shades of Gray is a story of astonishing force. I feel grateful for a writer like