Ruta Sepetys

“I remembered Papa talking about Stalin confiscating peasants' land, tools, and animals. He told them what crops they would produce and how…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Just when you think this war has taken everything you loved, you meet someone and realize that somehow you still have more…

— Ruta Sepetys

Was it harder to die, or harder to be the one who survived?

— Ruta Sepetys

It amazed me how some people could touch an instrument and create something so beautiful, and when others tried, like me, it…

— Ruta Sepetys

“But when she sat alone her face looked cheerless and forlorn, full of tears waiting patiently to fall.”

— Ruta Sepetys

“Willie said fathers were overrated, that my father could be one of thousands, most likely some rotten crotch creep that loved clip-on…

— Ruta Sepetys

“What determines how we remember history and which elements are preserved and penetrate the collective consciousness? If historical novels stir your interest,…

— Ruta Sepetys

“It belongs to an Uptown attorney. What a horse’s ass. Thinks he’s so smart. He doesn’t know the difference between piss and…

— Ruta Sepetys

“The scent of Havana tobacco draped thick from the magnolia trees in the front yard. Ice cubes mingled and clinked against the…

— Ruta Sepetys

“I love Between shades of gray”

— Ruta Sepetys

My breathing slowed. I shaded her thick chestnut hair resting in a smooth curve against her face, a large bruise blazing across…

— Ruta Sepetys

I took several trips to New Orleans and met with people who had intimate knowledge of the underbelly of the city in…

— Ruta Sepetys

“The soldier stared at Ingrid. His silence was elastic, slowly curling a rope around her neck.”

— Ruta Sepetys

Sometimes there is such beauty in awkwardness. There's love and emotion trying to express itself, but at the time, it just ends…

— Ruta Sepetys

“They have a baby grand piano, but no one in the family plays. They have shelves of books they've never read, and…

— Ruta Sepetys

“He was beautiful. The knight was beautiful, handsome when he smiled. He didn’t want anyone to see it. He didn’t want to…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Krasivaya. It means beautiful, but with strength.r”

— Ruta Sepetys

People I didn't know formed a circle around me, sheltering me from view. They escorted me safely back to our jurta, undetected.…

— Ruta Sepetys

We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean.

— Ruta Sepetys

“But all of the survivors had one thing in common, and that was love. They survived through love. Whether love of friend,…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Stalin has stolen more than lands. Hannelore, he has stolen human dignity. I see it in their forlorn eyes and broken posture.…

— Ruta Sepetys

“The shoes always tell the story,' said the shoe poet. 'Not always,' I countered. 'Yes, always. Your boots, they are expensive, well…

— Ruta Sepetys

“Yet amidst all that, life has spit in the eye of death. We must find her some shoes.”

— Ruta Sepetys

Man, you’re a regular Bonnie Parker.” “A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up.” Jesse found that hysterical.…

— Ruta Sepetys

“A guilty conscience is not worth extra food.”

— Ruta Sepetys