Ruta Sepetys

I planted a seed of hatred in my heart. I swore it would grow to be a massive tree whose roots would…

— Ruta Sepetys

“It is estimated that Josef Stalin killed more than twenty million people during his reign of terror. The Baltic states of Lithuania,…

— Ruta Sepetys

“A wrongdoing doesn't give you the right to do wrong. You know that.”

— Ruta Sepetys

Let me tell you something 'bout these rich Uptown folk," said Cokie. "They got everything that money can buy, their bank accounts…

— Ruta Sepetys

I felt as if I were riding a pendulum. Just as I would swing into the abyss of hopelessness, the pendulum would…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Look at you, locked and loaded, like Mae West of the Motor City.”

— Ruta Sepetys

Charlie Marlowe never wrote horror, but somehow horror was writing Charlie Marlowe.

— Ruta Sepetys

“You got to get outta here, Josie. New Orleans is fine for some people, real good for a few. But not for…

— Ruta Sepetys

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever . . . it will never pass into nothingness.”

— Ruta Sepetys

New Orleans is unlike any city in America. Its cultural diversity is woven into the food, the music, the architecture - even…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Engrave your pieces, Jo, and they’ll always find their way back to you,” said Willie.”

— Ruta Sepetys

“But unlike Mama, I would not go to heaven. My secrets padlocked the gates. I'd be a torn kite stuck in the…

— Ruta Sepetys

“No Son [. . .] Not a traitor to your country. Much worse. A traitor to your soul.”

— Ruta Sepetys

“Hello, Josie,” they’d say with a half smile, followed by a sigh and sometimes a shake of the head. They acted like…

— Ruta Sepetys

But wasn't there some sort of rule that said parents had to be smarter than their kids? It didn't seem fair.

— Ruta Sepetys

“Good men are often more practical than pretty”

— Ruta Sepetys

“I had said too much. He was giving me the look. I hated the look. It was the “You’ve had it tough,…

— Ruta Sepetys

I took many trips down to New Orleans trying to experience the city as deeply as possible. I'm from Detroit so New…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Per aspera ad astra, Papa,' I whispered. Through hardship to the stars.”

— Ruta Sepetys

“We know us,” said Mother. “They’re wrong. And don’t ever allow them to convince you otherwise. Do you understand?”

— Ruta Sepetys

What was life asking of me? How could I respond when I didn't know the question?

— Ruta Sepetys

“Why you frettin', Jo? You not sure?" I inhaled my tears in order to speak. "I'm sure I want to go, but…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Writers of historical fiction would be lost without libraries and archives.”

— Ruta Sepetys

“Everyone has a price,” she said. “But clearly not everyone has a soul,”

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“One day when I was fourteen, I told Charlie that I hated Mother. “Don’t hate her, Jo,” he told me. “Feel sorry…

— Ruta Sepetys