1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sepetys, Ruta. 2016. SALT TO THE SEA. New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-399-16030-1.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Joana. Florian. Emilia. Alfred. Against the backdrop of World War II, these four tell their stories of struggle, suffering, and loss. Thrown together by dreadful circumstances, a group of ragtag refugees travel together, trying to escape the approaching Russians. However, many of them are also enemies of the Reich. The bonds that form through desperation can be strong and familial. Their fates will converge on the Wilhelm Gustloff, a vessel that promised safety, but delivered doom.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This is a heart-wrenching book. The suffering that the characters endure is heavy and horrible. Sepetys creates four different narrative perspectives, a German artist, a Lithuanian nurse, a pregnant Polish teenager, and a bullied Nazi soldier.
Three of their stories converge early on, as they are running from impending Russian invasion. Each of them becomes dependent on another for strength or help. The theme of strength of the human spirit is present throughout the story. Death is also another dark theme that weaves through the book from beginning to end, from death of loved ones, death of community and identity, and for some characters, their own deaths.
There are appalling tragedies of war that Sepetys includes that are almost unmanageable for me. This book is not for the faint of heart. She doesn’t include much detail, but rape and infant death are gruesome and heartbreaking. Sepetys includes historical research throughout her story, and I looked in the true story of Nemmersdorf. It made me nauseous. There are points of light and life in the book, but be forewarned. The truth of war is hell.
4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Booklist starred, December 2015: “This haunting gem of a novel begs to be remembered, and in turn, it tries to remember the thousands of real people its fictional characters represent. What it asks of us is that their memories—and their stories—not be abandoned to the sea.”
Horn Book Magazine, January 2016
Kirkus Reviews, November 2015
Library Journal starred, December 2015
Publishers Weekly starred, November 2015
School Library Journal starred, December 2015: “Artfully told and sensitively crafted, Sepetys's exploration of this little-known piece of history will leave readers weeping.”
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), December 2015
5. CONNECTIONS
*The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is a little known slice of World War II history. To teach World War II history with a wider lens, books that could offer different perspectives are We are not free by Traci Chee, about young Japanese-Americans sent to internment camps, Night Witches: a novel of World War II by Kathryn Lasky, about the Soviet female pilots, or Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury, about Japanese Americans training K-9 units to be used in Japan.
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