Between Shades of Gray

     As many people know World War II was a very difficult and traumatizing war. This book is focused on a family going through the hardships of the war and being suddenly forced onto a train by the Soviet Union and having to work in a labor camp. A main theme that you can see in this book is survival. If you know anything about World War II then you will likely know that the concentration camps that people were forced into had horrible conditions. They barely fed them, made them work all day, and killed them if they weren’t complying. Typically the concentration camps are more connected to Hitler and the Jews, but Stalin was equally as ruthless as him. I love the fact that this takes place on the Stalin side of things rather than Hitler because in school you never go into deep detail about how bad Stalin was. The character that I feel developed significantly is the main character Lina. This is because in the beginning she is very oblivious to all the signs there were there before being taken. Though once being taken abruptly she learns to suck it up and fight for what she thinks is right and ultimately save her family and those around her who have become her friends. Gender is a theme that can also be seen in this book. It is quite obvious in the beginning of the book when they separate all of the men from the women and children. A main reason they would do this is because the men were stronger so they would send them to concentration camps with more difficult work, if they did not kill them. 

     I feel that this shows adolescents being very oblivious to the things happening around them on a day to day basis. In the book Lina is constantly being given signs about what is going to happen (foreshadowing in a sense) before the NKVD actually show up to their house. It makes it seem as though adolescents aren’t ready to take on real issues, such as a dictator getting ready to take over the country you are living in. If her parents would have included her in the discussions about what was going on she may have helped them prepare for what was coming and might have been able to escape in time. This text helps show adolescents why they need to keep up with things in the world such as politics and world matters. This news may seem boring until you are in the middle of it. It suddenly becomes the most important and only thing that your life is centered around. 

     Overall I felt that this text was very interesting. The fact that it centered around a historical moment in history was fascinating. Most everything that the author used actually happened because she went to Lithuania and talked to people who actually went through this. I have always been very interested in World War II and all the details about it and found this book very informative

Rating: A