Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both. --The Washington PostLina 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.

Between Shades of Gray is a novel that will steal your breath and capture your heart.Praise for BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY:A superlative first novel.

A hefty emotional punch.--The New York Times Book Review A brilliant story of love and survival.--Laurie Halse Anderson, bestselling author of Speak and Wintergirls* Beautifully written and deeply feltan important book that deserves the widest possible readership.--Booklist, Starred ReviewA New York Times BestsellerAn International BestsellerA New York Times Notable Book of 2011A Wall Street Journal Best Childrens Book of 2011A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2011The iTunes 2011 Rewind Best Teen NovelThe #1 Book on the Spring 2011 IndieNext ListA School Library Journal Best Book of 2011A Booklist Best Book of 2011A Kirkus Best Book of 20112012 IRA Childrens and Young Adults Book Award for Young Adult Fiction2012 Indies Choice Young Adult Book of the YearA Carnegie Medal FinalistA William C.

Morris Finalist