Module 4 – Historical Fiction
1. BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY by Ruta Sepetys
Bibliography
Sepetys, Ruta. (2011). Between shades of gray. Listening Library. https://www.audible.com/pd/Between-Shades-of-Gray-Audiobook/B004SICBZM?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp&shareTest=TestShare
Plot Summary
Lina is a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl. In 1941, she and her family are forced to leave their home by the NKVD, the Soviet secret police. Her father is taken before ever arriving home and is sent to a work camp. Lina, her little brother Jonas, and her mother frantically pack suitcases in the middle of the night and are then herded onto a train car with dozens of other people. Eventually, after many grueling weeks on the train, they arrive filthy, starving, and exhausted at a work camp in Siberia. Lina writes about their harrowing journey and buries it in a glass jar, in hopes that someone in the future will discover it and share their story with others.
Critical Analysis
Between Shades of Gray is a wonderful historical fiction novel that takes place during World War II. Ruta Sepetys uses her own Lithuanian heritage to tell this under-represented version of history. The main character, Lina, is a brave girl with a special artistic gift. She, along with her mother and brother are deeply worried about their father and what will become of them all. The relationship between Lina and Jonas is one that will strike a chord with young adult readers, especially those with siblings. Lina takes care of and looks out for her younger brother. She is independent and strong-willed, and when she has the opportunity to go and look for her father she takes it, despite the risk.
The heroes of this YA novel are the teenagers, Lina and Andrius. They are the protectors of Jonas, her younger brother, and of the other children on board the train. While Lina does not like Andrius at first, she comes to rely on him and trust him. Their friendship becomes something deeper and strengthens through the hardships they endure. The adults are all complex and flawed. Lina finds herself rushing to judgment about Andrius and his mother. She views the adult’s choices from the perspective of a teenager, someone who is not as innocent as a child, but does not yet understand the hard decisions that adults must make to protect the ones they love and to survive.
The audiobook is unabridged and read by one narrator. It begins with a very brief introduction. The story is organized into 3 parts: part 1 – thieves and prostitutes, part 2 – maps and snakes, and part 3 – ice and ashes. This is followed by an epilogue where we learn that Lina and Andrius eventually marry. The very last chapter is the author herself speaking about her novel and how she wrote it.
Review excerpts
- School Library Journal: “Moving, edifying, and quietly beautiful, Sepetys's well-researched novel is an exquisite look at a devastating atrocity.”
- Kirkus Reviews: “This bitterly sad, fluidly written historical novel tackles a topic woefully under-discussed in English-language children's fiction: Joseph Stalin's reign of terror.”Connections
2. GIRL IN THE BLUE COAT by Monica Hesse
Bibliography
Hesse, Monica. (2016). Girl in the blue coat. Little, Brown, and Company.
Plot Summary
In 1943, Hanneke Bakker is an 18-year-old girl trying to survive the Nazi invasion of Amsterdam. She does good business selling black market goods to clients all over the city. She uses the money to support herself and her parents, who can’t work. At the start of the war, her boyfriend was killed defending their country. Still heartbroken and grieving, she is trying to make sense of this new world. One of her clients asks her to find her Jewish stow-a-way who has gone missing. Hanneke reluctantly decides to accept the task. Her perspective is forced to change many times throughout the story as she discovers that circumstances and situations are not always as they seem.
Critical Analysis
Girl in the Blue Coat is a historical fiction mystery novel. Its main character, Hanneke, is an independent teenage girl who is discovering her own strength and capability. She has been tested emotionally by the war after the death of her boyfriend, Bas. Over the course of the story, she is tested mentally and morally, as well. Like many young adults, she is coming to terms with her own independence, separate from her parents. She laments in part of the book, that after she stays out all night, her parents still look at her as their daughter, but no longer their child.
She teaches young adult readers about bravery. Hanneke does not want to get involved in finding the missing girl, Mirjam, at first because she doesn’t feel confident enough that she will be successful. In the end, after much consideration and the lure of the mystery, she decides to accept. Throughout the story she is tested, and she has to rely on her own wits and the kindness and strength of others to succeed. She is frequently scared and unsure, but she carries on for the good of others. This is a valuable lesson for readers.
Review excerpts
- School Library Journal: “Hesse crafts a thought-provoking and gripping historical novel.”
Connections
- Further reading: They Went Left by Monica Hesse
- There is a Discussion Guide and sneak peeks of They Went Left and Of the War Outside at the end of the book.
3. THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak
Bibliography
Zusak, Markus. (2005). The book thief. Alfred A. Knopf.
Plot Summary
The Book Thief is a historical fiction novel set during World War II. When Liesel Meminger is nine years old, her younger brother, Werner, dies on the train ride to their new home. Her mother is taking them by train to their new foster parents. Immediately following her brother’s burial, she discovers a book in the snowy ground. She takes it and this begins her book thievery. Liesel meets her foster parents, Rosa and Hans, and makes a new friend, Rudy. She deeply misses her mother and grieves for her brother. Liesel has nightmares and also struggles with school. Although she loves books, she can’t read at all. Her foster father, Hans, begins to teach her to read as a way to soothe her from her nightmares. By the end of the story, she is writing her own book. At the end of the story, her street is bombed and she loses her home and everyone she knows. Her story on Himmel Street ends as it began: Liesel alone with a book in her hand.
Critical Analysis
This story is set in a small German town during World War II. True to the setting of the story, Liesel endures physical abuse as a form of punishment both at school and at home. Her foster parents are opposites in many ways. Her foster mother, Rosa, is brazen and harsh. Her foster father, Hans, is caring and warm. Liesel Meminger is frustrated by life and how unfair everything seems. Liesel loves her best friend Rudy, but not in the same way he loves her. Liesel’s relationship with her father, Hans, is tender and loving. Hans is her rock. Through his sacrifice and personal discomfort, he makes her world better.
Review excerpts
Connections
- The Book Thief movie
- The end of the book has clips from the movie, actor featurettes, a conversation with Markus Zusak, and a Q&A with the author.
