Between Shades Of Gray
By: Ruth Sepetys
Characters
Lina Vilkas
Lina is a fifteen year old girl who has been taken from her home with her mother and brother, by the NKVD and is forced into a concentration camp. Lina is also an artist, she draws everything she see, but in her own way.
Andrius Arvydas
Audrius is a seventeen year old boy who was forced into a concentration camp with his mother, by the NKV. Andrius puts everyone before himself, and will stop at nothing to save the ones he loves. Andrius is also in love with Lina.
Jones Vilkas
Jones is Linas younger brother, Jones was put in the concentration camp with his family. While Jones is struggling more than the rest to survive in the camp, he is also well liked by many other prisoners. Jones matures a lot throughout there journey.
Setting
Most of this story takes place in a prison camp in Siberia and then soon taken North of the Arctic Circle in the time of World War 2 while Hitler took over.
Plot
Lina and her family are taken from their home in Lithuania and forced as prisoners, to work in a concentration camp. Along the way Lina meets many people and gives her perspective on them individually. While Line is on this "journey" through the camp she meets Andrius, a 17 year old boy who will stop at nothing to keep his mother, Lina and her family alive. When Lina and her family are deported from the camp, Lina will have to face the loss of a loved one and the though of never seeing Andrius and her father again.
Conflict
Lina and her family and friends are forced out of there homes by the NKVD and put into a concentration camp in Siberia and then soon taken into a camp located towards the North Pole. Lina struggles with keeping her family alive while starving and keeping any hope that her father is still alive.
Internal and External Conflict
Lina vs herself - Lina struggles through her emotions and hate by drawing to let out her emotions.
Lina vs Andrius - Lina struggles to show her feelings for Andrius and hates him because she does not understand his situation.
Prisoners vs NKVD - The prisoners at the camp struggle to survive through the NKVD harsh behavior towards them.
Prisoners vs Harsh winter weather - The prisoners struggle to survive through the tough winter and start dying off and losing limbs from frost bite.
Siberia
This is where Lina and her family were taken, all the way from Lithuania. They were forced to work in a labor camp in the northern part of Siberia until they were transported to the Northern part of the Arctic Circle, where they were forced to build a prison camp.
Dombey and Son
This is the story that Andrius gave to Lina for her birthday before she was taken to the Arctic Circle. Lina refers to this book many times throughout the story.
NKVD
This is the NKVD, these are the man who controlled the prisoners in the camps.
Lithuanian National Anthem
This is what Lina and the other people in the prison camps would sing to help remind them of home.
Psalm 102
This scripture is from a Lithuanian bible, this script was sent from someone in the camps husband. The script gives a painful expression of dying and starving. During the story Lina furres back to this script relating to her.