Caitlyn's Blog

pt 1 

I have recently finished reading Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys.  This book was an extremely good one that i suggest to all middle school and high school readers.  The concept of the book really hits you in the heart and will make you keep reading.  While finishing the book I can see that the author has tied some real facts and accidents that have actually happened in history.  One thing that was included was the sinking of the William Gustloff.  This is a sinking that isn't very commonly known about but killed 9,400 Germans trying to escape the war life.  The book is very vivid in the fact of mind, heart, and your look on the world.

pt 2

 Sepetys writing is very unique and powerful. It entices the reader in every word. After reading my partners thoughts on her other book I can tell that this is something she does in every book and works hard to do it. Her writing captivates the reader by pulling at their heart strings and making them feel bad for the characters and what they are dealing with in the book. Since she is a historical fiction author, which is something common, you wouldn’t expect her to be able to make her writing so unique. She is able to use real life senerios and fictional senerios to combine them into a very realistic story. this really grabs the attention of the reader in many ways and i think it is something important and true to her writing. 

pt 3 

Advice that i have on how to find a book on booklikes.com is to search for authors you like and see if there are any books that pop up that you haven’t read by them yet, search for titles or subjects/genres you like, and find people who post on books you like to read. these tips could be very helpful for you and others searching for their next book of a victim. i suggest using these a lot and any other tips you have to find a good book. 

Recently reading Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, I have noticed some similarities between the authors life and her book.  Sepetys is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee and in the book one of the main characters is a young women who is trying to escape the Russians coming for the German people.  Sepetys also is very fond of learning and went to many different schools and colleges which is shown in her characters since many of them talk about learning about different things even in the middle of war.

Some things however were very different between her life and the book. Sepetys has lived in America a lot of her life and all of the characters live over seas near germany and lithuania. This is contrast between book and author. Another thing is the fact that during schooling Sepetys changed majors multiple times and her characters have their minds set on what they want to be. In the book the authors life is shown in little tid bits but is obviously important to how she writes

qotd: have you ever seen an authors life in a book of theirs?

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This quote in the book is said by Florian, a German deserter, who is against Hitler, but doesn't want to be caught in the act. In order to prevent this he forges papers to keep him on the good side of the Nazis. The quote shows many things about this time period that the books tries to portray.

1. It shows that nobody was safe, not even the Germans themselves. Whether the soldier was high or low in rank, there were always people on the outside and inside that hated them.  The forgery worked for some people, but others were suspicious.

2. People would do whatever they could do to survive. Even though Florian knew it wasn't safe or right to forge papers, he did it anyway. WWII was a very scary time period where all you wanted to do was survive. Forgery wasn't right and could get you in a lot of trouble with authority, however if you got away with doing it, it could save your life.

3. When Florian forged the papers he had to make it more believable. In order to do this he had to make sure that his attitude was strong and matched the title he gave himself which is said in the quote. Attitude that doesn't get you in trouble, but gets people to respect you determined life or death.

Hi my name is Caitlyn and I enjoy reading realistic and historical fiction.  These genres are two that I turn to a lot when trying to find a good book. Speaking about good books, one that was recently suggested to me is Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys.  This was suggested by a friend who is also reading one of her books.

Salt to the Sea is about four teenagers trying to escape WWII.  Instead of the author focusing on who the Germans are against, it focuses on who he RUSSIANS are against. The author switches point of views of characters in each chapter between a German Deserter, a Polish girl, a Lithuanian nurse, and another German soldier.  The book really shows the struggles for kids in such a scary time.  The characters are very well developed and are looked at as adults when in reality they are each under 22.  The plot can really captivate the reader and defiantly make you want to read more.

 Ruta Sepetys has a really unique style that I would like to point out.  She is able to switch characters' perspectives while keeping the story moving.  She is also able to describe characters be using another one's perspective so you are able to find out more about that character.  Through out the book you will always know something another character doesn't. 

Salt to the Sea is a book I suggest putting on your book list and will let you know more about.