I just read two books set in very different places, but both about pain, courage, and survival.
Between Shades of Gray exposes us to the brutality of Stalin’s Soviet Union and his forced labor camps. Fifteen-year-old Lina, with her mother and younger brother, are sent to a brutal camp in the frozen far north, well above the Arctic Circle. Lina endures suffering, loss, and fear as she struggles to survive.
In Gringolandia, a Chilean boy now living in the United States comes to terms with the reappearance of his father, brutalized by years in a Chilean prison. Now Daniel must discover his own identity, his responsibilities, and his place in the world. Daniel’s story ponders the question: When history calls your name, how will you answer?
Both books are beautifully written and both disturbing enough to linger long after the last page.
