Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

In 1941 Stalin was busy trying to eliminate Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. In order to do that he deported thousands and thousands of people. Many of them were sent to Siberia.

This book is a story about the deportation of a 15 year old girl and her family from Lithuania. It was a compelling read. I was worried about it being too depressing. Somehow it wasn't. Yes, it talks about hard things, but it also talks about the importance of hope and a desire to live. It is a young adult book, and I like the way many of the situations were handled in light of that fact.

I was not aware about this mass deportation at all. At first I was worried that they would be exterminated like Hitler did the Jews, but at least in this story, that didn't happen. It's scary to me that this kind of thing happens so easily without the rest of the world knowing anything about it. China, Germany, Russia and so many other countries have suppressed what we as Americans consider to be unalienable rights. It's a blessing to live here. We need to make sure to exercise our rights to vote and keep the freedoms we have.