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  • Helen, Technical Services Librarian

Helen's Review: "Salt to the Sea"

Salt to the Sea, by Ruta Sepetys is a YA book that tells the story of German refugees fleeing advancing Soviet soldiers at the end of World War II. Based on a historical disaster, the book follows these characters over a matter of days as they seek refuge on the ship the Wilhelm Gustloff, which was sunk by a Soviet submarine in January 1945. The story is told in the alternating voices of four main characters—Joana, a Lithuanian nurse; Florian, a mysterious Prussian; Emilia, a damaged Polish girl with a terrible secret; and Alfred, a braggadocios German sailor who is actually a slacker and a coward. Though young, the realities and privations of this perilous time make the characters and their situations all too real.

Salt to the sea has great crossover appeal to adults as did Sepetys’ debut novel, Between shades of gray, which dealt with Jewish Holocaust victims during World War II. The fast pace of the novel heightens the suspense and the urgency of the plight of the novel’s characters. Sepetys does not sugarcoat any of the real horrors of the war—death and destruction surround the refugees in an ever-tightening noose.

Ruta Sepetys is an author to watch for. Even though she is considered a YA author, her three novels are intelligently written, with complex characters that you care for and want to read more about.


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