Book Review of Salt to the Sea

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sepetys, Ruta. 2016. SALT TO THE SEA. New York, NY: Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. ISBN 9780399160301.      

 

PLOT SUMMARY

Four young people take turns telling the story of their lives as they negotiate their singular roles in 1945 wartime Germany and the surrounding countries. Their paths unite in different places, merging at the end in a tapestry of intensity and pathos.   

 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This is an outstanding novel. It takes a little while to get used to cycling between the main four characters, but once you learn who is who, you develop a true concern for three of them, and a disgust for the fourth. Sepetys’ use of this one despicable character reinforces the positive attributes of the other three main characters, as well as that of their companions. As I read the novel, I found myself rooting for the three “good” characters, and, in a strange way, looking forward to reading the disturbing actions the “bad” character, Alfred, would next engage in. As much as we grow to hate his character, his behaviors accurately reflect the Nazi attitudes of the time. The different points of view offered by the different characters adds much to the story. Probably the most enticing part of the novel are the character development of the main characters and the exciting plot. The authenticity and accuracy of this novel are attested to by the research that the author did, which is documented after her “Research and Sources” section at the end of the book. The ending will bring tears to the eyes of readers sensitive enough to feel the emotion with which the author has imbued the story. While the historical aspects are important in themselves, it is the story that drives this important book. As historical fiction author Jennifer Holm has noted, “The story has to come first always.”      

 

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

2017 Carnegie Medal winner

2017 TAYSHAS top ten list

YALSA Top Ten Teen Books of 2017

KIRKUS review: “Heartbreaking, historical, and a little bit hopeful.”

HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY review: “While Salt to the Sea is YA fiction, it spares nothing in the brutal portrayal of human cruelty, war, and evil. Sepetys should be commended for her honesty and meticulous research. And all of us should thank her for honoring the nine thousand souls who went to their deaths in this unspeakable tragedy.”

 

CONNECTIONS

Lessons on World War II, racism, refugees, and genocide would benefit from including this novel in the readings.    

* Books similar to this one include:

Sepetys, Ruta. BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY. ISBN 9788811670360.

Boyne, John. THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS ISBN 9780857533937.

Lowry, Lois. NUMBER THE STARS. ISBN 9780395510605.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
      Infographics                 Infographics is a method of conveying information in a concise and eye-catching way. In various incarnations, infographics can be traced as far back as the beginning of book illustrations. One such example is the illustration of “sunspots in  Rosa Ursina sive Sol , an illustrated astronomical text published by Christoph Scheiner in 1626 . ” (Evers, 2015) Another example of infographics from the 1600’s was Galileo Galilei’s Sidereus Nuncius , published in 1610. Galilei’s work used infographics to share information about Earth’s moon, the moons of Saturn, and various constellations. Thus, it can be argued that the use of infographics is 400 years old. Some have argued that infographics goes back as far as prehistoric cave paintings or Egyptian hieroglyphs, but I prefer to limit our historical identification of the usage of infographics to the post-Gutenberg press era, from the 1400’s onward. The term infographic comes from combining the t
Read more
  REVIEW OF A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW   A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Lin, Grace. 2019. A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW . New York City, NY: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers. ISBN 9780316478366.   B. PLOT SUMMARY At the beginning of the winter season, a boy named Little Snow gets a new bed made for him by his mother. She reminds him that it is for sleeping on, not for jumping on. He agrees to sleep on the bed, not jump on it. That night, after his mother left from tucking him in, Little Snow started jumping on his bed. When he heard his mother coming back, he lay down and pretended he hadn’t been doing anything. The next morning, after he had woken up, he decided to jump on his bed some more. When he heard his mother coming, he laid back down and pretended he hadn’t been jumping on his bed. That winter, Little Snow enjoyed jumping on his bed whenever his mother was not around. One time when he was jumping on his bed, when he landed on it he made a rip in it. Whenever he jumped on
Read more