An Author and Her Books, Ruta Sepetys
An Author and Her Books, Ruta Sepetys
She writes YA historical fiction that makes you want to read more
Hi readers,
I hope everyone stayed safe and warm during the cold and snow/ice from last week’s big storm. Even though the high on Saturday was in the high 40’s, my apartment does not get any direct sun on the north side and barely any on the south side, making it tricky to get to my car. The ice finally melted enough for me to get out on Saturday afternoon to see a play my granddaughter is in. I had a glorious four days off work because of the ice. I was able to be lazy and read and watch TV.
I enjoy reading young adult fiction, but so much of it is about young love and angst, and the problems seem trivial to a sixty-something-year-old woman. I can’t have a steady diet of YA, but a couple of years back, I discovered young adult historical fiction. YA HF reads more like traditional historical fiction without as much love and angst as YA. There are many YA historical fiction authors such as Stacey Lee, Julie Berry, Jordyn Taylor, and many more. The first YA historical fiction novel I read was by Ruta Sepetys, and I’m now a believer in YA HF.
Ruta Sepetys (hear how to pronounce her name here), the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, was born in Michigan and grew up hearing stories about her father’s history. She wrote her first book in third grade, and she says that her teacher graciously allowed her to read chapters aloud to her classmates, which gave her the gift of creative courage. A high school teacher told her she should pursue “humor” writing; I’m glad she landed in historical writing. Sepetys says that “historical fiction absolutely has a place in schools … and that it gives a voice to those who will never be able to tell their story.” She attended college for Opera and graduated with a degree in International Finance from Hillsdale College. Before publishing Between the Shades of Gray, she spent twenty years in the music business “helping artists and songwriters distill story through song.” She has won numerous awards; her novels have been published in over sixty countries and forty languages. She lives in Nashville, TN, with her husband in a treehouse. Yes, you heard me right, a treehouse. You can see a picture here (scroll to the bottom).
Books in publication date order:
Between Shades of Gray - The first book published by Sepetys tells the story of a Lithuanian girl (Lina) when the Soviets separate her and the rest of her family from her father. They are taken to a Siberian work camp where Lina takes comfort in her art and imbeds clues of their location in her drawings, hoping those drawings make their way to her father’s prison camp. Newberry award-winning author Richard Peck says, “In terrifying detail, Ruta Sepetys re-creates World War II coming of age all too timely today. Between Shades of Gray is a document long overdue.” It has been adapted for film under the name Ashes in the Snow. I have not read this novel yet, but in my desire to be a completist, it is high up on my TBR.
Out of the Easy - The second book of Supety’s I read is set in New Orleans in 1950 and focuses on seventeen-year-old Josie, the daughter of a brothel prostitute that wants more from her life than she sees available to her in the Big Easy. Complete with a large cast of characters, New Orleans comes alive from the writing. Josie is spunky and determined, and you will find yourself rooting for her from start to finish. The cast of characters will keep you on your toes and wanting more of them. I really enjoyed this book; it is so different from Fountains; I was quite surprised.
Salt to the Sea - A WWII novel focusing on refugees on a trek towards freedom en route to the ship the Wilhelm Gustloff as tragedy strikes. The story is told from alternating points of view, and this tragedy is not often written about when authors write about WWII. Each chapter and character builds and expands on the previous one, and all characters must fight for survival. The NY Times says, “Ruta Sepetys acts as champion of the people so often ignored — whole populations lost in the cracks of history.”
The Fountains of Silence - I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, and it sat around for quite a while before I read it. I kept seeing great reviews on social media, and one of those reviews mentioned that it was a YA novel. That was all it took to convince me to read it, and I’m so glad I did. It opened up a whole new world of HF reading for me. Set in 1957 during Spain’s civil war and dictator Francisco Franco’s reign, Fountains tells the story of Daniel, an American living in Spain, and Ana, the hotel’s maid that Daniel can’t forget. This is a novel rich in cultural history, told from multiple points of view that highlights this time in history, a story I won’t soon forget.
Between Shades of Gray Graphic Novel - In time for the 10th anniversary of the publication of Between the Shades of Gray, BSG Graphic Novel turns the beloved book into a graphic novel. I haven’t read this, and if I did, I’d read the novel first before reading the graphic novel.
I Must Betray You - From the publisher, “A gut-wrenching, startling historical thriller about communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation.” Early reviews say that Sepetys has done it again; a remarkable HF novel about communist Romania in 1989 and what people were willing to do to be free to dream. The story follows a seventeen-year-old young man being blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He uses his position to help take down the “most notoriously evil dictator” in Eastern Europe. I can’t wait to read it.
Author interviews, audio, and video links:
Finding My Family’s Story Through Historical Fiction - She realized that the story she had been telling about her family’s history was only part of the story. She discovered photographs and letters that led her to the rest of her history.
A quick listen about how Between the Shades of Gray has gotten mixed up with another famous shade of Grey.
In this written interview, she answers questions about writing The Fountains of Silence. In this article, there is also a link to a Time magazine article related to Salt to the Sea. Be sure to read that too.
88 Cups of Tea podcast episode where Sepetys is interviewed about several writing topics related to writing historical fiction with multiple POVs. Other episodes of this podcast feature other YA authors such as Stacey Lee, Elizabeth Acevedo, and Jason Reynolds. The podcast is inactive, but you can still download and listen to the episodes in your favorite podcast player or on the website.
A Meet the Author interview by Fairfax County Schools with Sepetys in 2018.
A Penguin Teen production where Sepetys discusses the history behind her first book, Between the Shades of Gray.
If you aren’t a historical fiction or young adult enthusiast, I hope one of these books might convince you otherwise. There is so much to be learned from these books about history that you don’t often read about in other HF books. And the youth perspective is certainly something different from most of the HF books that I’ve read recently.
I have Supetys newest book on hold through Libby, and I will set aside everything I’m reading when it becomes available. One of my reading goals for this year is to become a completist on a few different authors, and Sepetys is one of them. There are only six books, and I’ve read two of them so far. I’ve never read a graphic novel, so I’m still undecided if I will read the BSG graphic novel or not. I’m always encouraging others to step outside of their reading comfort zone, so I’ve put this on hold through Libby. We’ll see how I feel when it becomes available. I do think I’d rather read the original novel before attempting the graphic novel.
Have you read any of Ruta Sepetys books before? Do any of the above books interest you? You can tell me in the comments about any of her books or any other YA historical fiction books you’ve read that you enjoyed.
In my research for this newsletter, I spied a few other YA historical fiction authors that I’d never heard of before, so I put a couple more books on hold through Libby. This is what I use my four e-book library cards for. Who knows if I’ll actually read them or not, but they are waiting for me, and I’ll decide when my turn comes. I’m excited about my upcoming reads, and I hope you have a few good books to read too. Happy reading!
Some of the links in this newsletter may be affiliate links. That means that if you click through and purchase anything, I may earn a small commission. This costs you nothing and helps me feed my voracious reading habit, and for that, I thank you.
My grandmother and I read Shades of Gray together when it came out and enjoyed it. (She'll read anything about Russia, specifically Siberia, which was why we chose it -- neither of us read much YA at all but it was the right book at the right time.)
I totally agree with Sepetys that HF has a place in schools... I loved it even as young as elementary school and learned a ton that way. (My forever love to Ann Rinaldi!) As an adult I like HF too, though I don't read it all that often.
As a historical fiction writer myself, three cheers for this newsletter!