Between Shades of Gray

First of all, I really enjoyed how quickly the plot picked up. It was very exciting even from the very first chapter of the book. It is a very engaging story that I think captures the essence of what it meant to be arrested and captured in a time of war. The character development is fairly good throughout the first half of the book; especially in regard to Lina and Jonas. They knew nothing of the extreme death of war at the start of the book, but by midway through they've been steeped in death, which Jonas's scratch marks for the dead children can attest to being true. I couldn't imagine being in that kind of scenario, especially when Ona is shot by the NKVD. To watch a person's life drained out of them in front of your eyes would cause anyone to grow in age beyond their years. I thought this was a great development for the characters that survived though because it really showed them how awful the NKVD can be. I also enjoy how Lina seems to be able to help herself much better than, say, Eleanor from Eleanor and Park. I did not like Eleanor as a character because of her lack of self-agency, but Lina is put into a situation where if she doesn't help herself, then she may end up dead.

This text definitely positions adolescents in a way that you see them as experienced beyond their years, and very strong. You have to be to be able to survive in an environment where corpses are jettisoned from the box cars like fleas. I would say that they most certainly are not stereo typically represented in this book; I believe that this is a product of the environment that the characters are in, as being arrested during a time of war is something that very few teenagers in America would face in present day times. I think this text would appeal to young adults because it is extremely engaging, and gives them insight to how awful times of war can be. It lets them experience a tragedy that they would never be faced with otherwise. I think it would be a great novel to teach young adult students the seriousness of war and death -- ever present themes in the present day world, although most war events would take place in other parts of the world.

Overall, so far I would definitely give Between Shades of Gray a rating of an "A". From the very first sentence of this book, I was hooked. I found the pages bleeding into each other and I was completely engrossed in the story. I think that a story that can have this kind of profound content while still detailing a compelling and narrative is a very strongly written book indeed.