February 14, 2011 Pre-publication attention continues to heat up for debut YA novelist, Ruta Sepetys. Since the last time we checked in on the Countryside, Tennessee, writer, she’s picked up another starred review, this one from School Library Journal, and a blue ribbon from the Book-of-The-Month Club–the first time a young-adult novel has ever made the list. Shades of Gray is also ranked first in the Top Ten of IndieBound’s IndieNext List for spring. Read more about Sepetys here and about Shades of Gray here.
March 2, 2011 update: Publisher’s Weekly continues to give Ruta Sepetys the love, this time with a feature highlighting the history behind the novel, set during Stalin’s purge of Lithuania:
“Shining light on these events can both illuminate and heal. As Bill Cusomano, buyer at Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor, Mich., says, ‘I consider this to be a YA version of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Sepetys’s novel offers such in-depth knowledge of the Great Terror, and the camp scenes portray a microcosm of the horror of the gulag system while also demonstrating the courage of the targets of this ethnic cleansing.’ As Sepetys states, ‘History holds secrets. Secrets can be painful. Secrets can be so destructive.’ Thanks to Ruta Sepetys, the secret is out.”
Read the full article, here.
For more updates on Tennessee authors, please visit Chapter 16‘s News & Notes page, here.
Tagged: Children & YA
