Salt to the Sea

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She also feels enormous guilt for leaving her family behind and probably leading to the death of her cousin and best friend, Lina. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy ( Your California Privacy Rights) and Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. There is the usual violence that goes with war, but the book leaves you with the notion that the human spirit is something that is stronger and more hopeful than you've ever imagined.

Salt to the Sea Study Guide | Literature Guide | LitCharts

Parents need to know that Salt to the Sea is award-winning author Ruta Sepetys' ( Out of the Easy) stirring historical novel set during World War II about a little-known maritime disaster: the 1945 sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ship filled mostly with civilians trying to escape the advancing Russian (or Red) Army. Eva separates from the group to find her precious belongings, and she ends up boarding the Hansa ship. It also shows how people who speak different languages and from different backgrounds can come together in solidarity against a common threat. Was it enough to admit the lie to yourself and the heavens, or did you have to tell someone who listened? Overcome by rage, delirium, and hypothermia, Alfred first confuses Emilia for Hannelore, and then lashes out when he realizes she is speaking Polish and therefore belongs to a group Hitler has deemed “undesirable.She was quite pretty and smelled like fresh eggs, but there have been many grateful and pretty girls. The Globe and Mail ♦“[H]aunting, heartbreaking, hopeful and altogether gorgeous…one of the best young-adult novels to appear in a very long time. H]aunting, heartbreaking, hopeful and altogether gorgeous…one of the best young-adult novels to appear in a very long time. This heart-breaking historical fiction highlights the devastation wrought by war on the lives of innocent civilians.

Salt to the Sea | Ruta Sepetys Salt to the Sea | Ruta Sepetys

Receiving your kind letter brought such peace to my heart, knowing that you, Joana, Klaus, and Halinka are together in America along with a child of your own.

He carried wood for me, climbed the ladder so I didn’t have to, shared his plums, and defended me in front of his mother.

Salt to the Sea Book Review | Common Sense Media Salt to the Sea Book Review | Common Sense Media

Here, she zooms out from her own life to reflect on the millions of refugees facing a similar situation. This meant that the story didn’t drag, but it bothered me in the final chapters where a little more information about what happened to the characters would have given the conclusion more of an epilogue feel.

My identity card said Resettler, indicating that Germany had allowed me to repatriate from Lithuania. A powerful and unforgettable read, if you read nothing else about the Baltics or WW2 this year, I’d pick up Salt to the Sea. Christine (she/her) is the owner, lead editor, and tipsy book sommelier of The Uncorked Librarian LLC, an online literary publication showcasing books and movies to inspire travel and home to the famed Uncorked Reading Challenge. This is not to say it’s not a beautifully written and important part of the novel but the romance doesn’t define either of the characters or detract attention away from the central tragedy. World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide.

Salt to the Sea - Wikipedia

Throughout Salt to the Sea, Sepetys indicates that while war's physical impacts are terrible, it is often the psychological consequences of war that are the most permanent and difficult to deal with. On the other hand, Emilia and Alfred find themselves on a raft, and when Alfred finds out that Emilia is Polish (after she initially revealed to be Latvian) he tries to kill her, but fails and suffers fatal injures in the process, dying shortly after. He cried when he told me that he was sending me away to the Kleists’ farm in East Prussia for safety. Alfred remains separate from the other main characters— Emilia, Florian, and Joana—for the first half of the novel, but his storyline intersects with theirs in the town of Gotenhafen, where his ship is stationed, and where they are trying to board a boat and evacuate East Prussia.Please join our community as we wander around the tipsy world reading books and watching movies to inspire travel.