I can’t wait for the release of Ruta Sepetys' new historical fiction WWII book... Heard it’s set for release in the summer or fall of this year!!! Eeep! Color me excited ‘cause I just really need more of her writing... In the meantime I guess I’ll just have to do with rereading her two books currently released... You can check the synopses of both below... ^_^
Title: Between Shades of GrayAuthor: Ruta Sepetys
Publication: March 22, 2011 by Philomel Books (HB), April 03, 2012 by Speak (PB)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, War
Lina is just like any other fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl in 1941. She paints, she draws, she gets crushes on boys. Until one night when Soviet officers barge into her home, tearing her family from the comfortable life they've known. Separated from her father, forced onto a crowded and dirty train car, Lina, her mother, and her young brother slowly make their way north, crossing the Arctic Circle, to a work camp in the coldest reaches of Siberia. Here they are forced, under Stalin's orders, to dig for beets and fight for their lives under the cruelest of conditions.
Lina finds solace in her art, meticulously--and at great risk--documenting events by drawing, hoping these messages will make their way to her father's prison camp to let him know they are still alive. It is a long and harrowing journey, spanning years and covering 6,500 miles, but it is through incredible strength, love, and hope that Lina ultimately survives.
Title: Out of the EasyAuthor: Ruta Sepetys
Publication: February 12, 2013 by Philomel Books (HB), March 4, 2014 by Speak (PB)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Romance
It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer.
She devises a plan to get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street. Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.
About the Author
Ruta Sepetys was born and raised in Michigan in a family of artists, readers, and music lovers. Her award-winning debut novel, "Between Shades of Gray" was inspired by her family's history in Lithuania and is published in 45 countries. Her second novel, "Out of the Easy" is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans in 1950. A historical tale of secrets and lies, "Out of the Easy" is a haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny. Ruta lives in a treehouse in the hills of Tennessee.
To read about Ruta's latest escapades, visit her website www.rutasepetys.com
Source: Goodreads
