Pages: 378
Intended Audience: Mature teens
Genre: Historical fiction
Notes for Parents: There are mature and disturbing scenes that may not be suitable for
sensitive readers.
The Inside Cover
Winter,
1945.
Four
teenagers.
Four
secrets.
Each
one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy,
lies…and war.
As
thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance,
four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that
promises safety and freedom.
Yet
not all promises can be kept.
What the cover doesn’t tell
you:
Although
the characters are fictional, the story is based on real events.
What’s good?
Fear
and desperation are palpable emotions in this heart-wrenching story about
refugees fleeing from a war torn country, hoping to escape the horrors of their
past to find a peaceful future. It’s a terrifying tale of survival and courage.
The writing is beautiful and the narratives are truly haunting. Based on a
disturbing true event that’s rarely talked about, the atrocities of World War
II are painfully drawn from the perspective of four young refugees that carry
both their worldly possessions and terribly secrets as they race to the coast. The
short (often very short) chapters move swiftly between the points of view of a
21-year-old nurse from Lithuania, a teenaged Prussian boy, a 15-year-old
pregnant Polish girl, and a naïve, young German sailor.
Best Part: “The Wilhelm Gustloff was pregnant with lost souls conceived of war.
They would crowd into her belly and she would give birth to their freedom.”
(pg. 218)
What isn’t good?
Things moved quickly at the beginning and I had
a hard time keeping the characters straight, but that only last for the first
few very short chapters. I would have liked to know a little more about some of
the characters, but that’s only because I liked them so much!
Worst part: Nothing.
Recommendation ☻☻☻☻☻ (5/5)
Short
chapters and amazing storytelling made this an engrossing story. The fact that
it was inspired by true and disturbing events made it all that much more
absorbing. Definitely recommended.
Sepetys, Ruta. Salt to the Sea. New York: Philomel Books, 2016. (Hardcover)
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