Lina is a fifteen year old girl living in Lithuania. She is leading a normal life, working towards art school and spending time with her family. The year is 1941, and while there have been some hints while overhearing her father discuss politics with some friends, she has no way to prepare Stalin’s reign of terror. The night comes that Soviet secret police come and knock on their door. Lina, her mother, and her brother are forced to leave hurriedly, forevermore leaving behind life as they know it. They are thrown into cattle cars amid the chaos of everyone else being taken prisoner to Siberia. Lina is separated from her father, so she uses her artistic abilities to send him clues in her drawings. All she can do is hope he gets them. The only good thing is the possibility of falling in love. Otherwise, Lina lives in a hell where it is all she can do to survive and try to help those around her. The hard part is maintaining their humanity and the will to live.
I picked up this book because my school was giving copies out for free.
I finished it because it was a page-turner. It made me think about how absolutely terrible people can be to each other and what it takes to survive.
I would recommend this book to people who love a story that makes them think about history or persevering even when you have nothing left.
I give this book a 5***** rating. (Really Liked It!)
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Review by Leslee, 12th grade