Introduction and Thesis

Lina took the warm loaf of bread on her desk for granted, not realizing how much it really meant until they took her. The book Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is a heart-wrenching, tragic story about relationships and the will to survive, as well as an informative novel about an important yet unfamiliar historical event. It is about a 15- year- old girl named Lina who is arrested from her home in Lithuania in 1941, along with her younger brother, Jonas, and her parents. They are re-located by the NKVD to a camp in Siberia as Joseph Stalin attempts to take over Lithuania.   Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys should be read by freshman in high school because it uncovers a brutal yet important part of  history that students should be aware of, it teaches the reader to be grateful for what they have, and it is an intriguing love story.