Sepetys Quotes

Charlie Marlowe never wrote horror, but somehow horror was writing Charlie Marlowe. ~ 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. "Did Willie say that?"
"Nope, Mae West. Now, how do I get on this thing in a skirt? ~ Ruta Sepetys

She is you, she is your mother, your father, your country. She is Poland. ~ Ruta Sepetys

It's crazy, but it's just money. There's lots of ways to get money, ~ Ruta Sepetys

Some were desperate to remember and others were desperate to forget. ~ Ruta Sepetys

May your fingers never know a fist. May your ears never ring with the call of duty. Before this war is over, all men will have an opportunity to reveal their true selves. I welcome that opportunity. To be a hero requires difficult choices and sacrifice. Each man can respond only when the finger of bravery curls and beckons him forth. That finger, it beckons me, Hannelore. I feel it. ~ Ruta Sepetys

My sister and brother are both writers as well. We are constantly discussing story and plot lines. And I love to discuss story ideas with my husband. ~ Ruta Sepetys

That was something the war couldn't take from me either. The Nazis couldn't stop the wind and the snow. The Russians couldn't take the sun or the stars. I ~ Ruta Sepetys

She held her breath in one hand and her suitcase in the other. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Decisions, they shape our destiny. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Embarrased and a bit humiliated, that's how I fel, and dissapointed. Patrick and I made so much sense together. We were comfortable, and he had kissed me. I had constructed the entire scenario in my head of how our relationship would grow and progress. I felt stupid for ever thinkig those things. Patrick's heart belonged to someone else. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Mother was comfort. Mother was home. A girl who lost her mother was suddenly a tiny boat on an angry ocean. Some boats eventually floated ashore. And some boats, like me, seemed to float farther and farther from land ~ Ruta Sepetys

Unless it was Cokie, gifts from men weren't free. ~ Ruta Sepetys

My arm began moving, turning the invisible crank of Death's music box. Somewhere inside, I didn't want the melody to end. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I remembered Papa talking about Stalin confiscating peasants' land, tools, and animals. He told them what crops they would produce and how much they would be paid. I thought it was ridiculous. How could Stalin simply take something that didn't belong to him, something that a farmer and his family had worked their whole lives for? "That's communism, Lina," Papa had said. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I looked back to the hole. What if we were digging our own grave? ~ Ruta Sepetys

Guilt is a hunter. My conscience mocked me, picking fights like a petulant child. It's all your fault, the voice whispered. I ~ Ruta Sepetys

She must have been a nurse. She looked a few years older than me. Pretty. Naturally pretty, the type that's still attractive, even more so, when she's filthy. ~ Ruta Sepetys

My art teacher had said that if you breathed deeply and imagined something, you could be there. You could see it, feel it. During our standoffs with the NKVD, I learned to do that. I clung to my rusted dreams during the times of silence. It was at gunpoint that I fell into every hope and allowed myself to wish from the deepest part of my heart. Komorov thought he was torturing us. But we were escaping into a stillness within ourselves. We found strength there. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Willie appeared completely calm about the news of Mother. She always said she could make tea in a tornado. ~ Ruta Sepetys

What determines how we remember history and which elements are preserved and penetrate the collective consciousness? If historical novels stir your interest, pursue the facts, history, memories, and personal testimonies available. These are the shoulders that historical fiction sits upon. When the survivors are gone we must not let the truth disappear with them. Please, give them a voice. ~ Ruta Sepetys

So I build my own nest and feather it with thoughts of you. ~ Ruta Sepetys

November 20. Andrius's birthday. I had counted the days carefully. I wished him a happy birthday when I woke and thought about him while hauling logs during the day. At night, I sat by the light of the stove, reading Dombey and Son. Krasivaya. I still hadn't found the word. Maybe I'd find it if I jumped ahead. I flipped through some of the pages. A marking caught my eye. I leafed backward. Something was written in pencil in the margin of 278.
Hello, Lina. You've gotten to page 278. That's pretty good!
I gasped, then pretened I was engrossed in the book. I looked at Andrius's handwritting. I ran my finger over this elongated letters in my name. Were there more? I knew I should read onward. I couldn't wait. I turned though the pages carefully, scanning the margins.
Page 300:
Are you really on page 300 or are you skipping ahead now?
I had to stifle my laughter.
Page 322:
Dombey and Son is boring. Admit it.
Page 364:
I'm thinking of you.
Page 412:
Are you maybe thinking of me?
I closed my eyes.
Yes, I'm thinking of you. Happy birthday, Andrius. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Hello, Josie, they'd say with a half smile, followed by a sigh and sometimes a shake of the head. They acted like they felt sorry for me, but as soon as they were ten steps away, I'd hear one of the words, along with my mother's name. The wealthy women pretended it singed their tongue to say whore. They'd whisper it and raise their eyebrows. Then they'd fake an expression of shock, like the word itself had crawled into their pants with a case of the clap. They didn't need to feel sorry for me. I was nothing like Mother. ~ 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 the tension between the couples was so thick it nearly choked us. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy - love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit. ~ Ruta Sepetys

War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Death, it seems, has a mind of its own. ~ Ruta Sepetys

He said nothing, just pulled me down into his lap and wrapped his arms around me. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I love Between shades of gray ~ Ruta Sepetys

I looked down at the little pink face in the bundle. A newborn. The child had been alive only minutes but was already considered a criminal by the Soviets. ~ Ruta Sepetys

That doesn't make him a hero. Our country is doomed, don't you see? Our fate is death, no matter whose hands we fall into. ~ Ruta Sepetys

We're dealing with two devils who both want to rule hell. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Thieves and prostitutes. Our mothers were in that car, along with a teacher, a librarian, elderly people, and a newborn baby - thieves and prostitutes. ~ Ruta Sepetys

New Orleans is unlike any city in America. Its cultural diversity is woven into the food, the music, the architecture - even the local superstitions. It's a sensory experience on all levels and there's a story lurking around every corner. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Sometimes we set off down a road thinkin' we're goin' one place and we end up another. But that's okay. The important thing is to start. ~ Ruta Sepetys

You love stories, Emilia. Well, the trees hold hundreds of years of stories. Think of it, everything these trees have seen and felt. All of the secrets are inside of them. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Guilt is a hunter.
I was its hostage. ~ Ruta Sepetys

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

Papa said scientists speculated that from the moon, the earth looked blue. That night I believed it. I would draw it blue and heavy with tears. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Yet amidst all that, life has spit in the eye of death. ~ Ruta Sepetys

The sinking of the Gustloff is the largest maritime disaster, yet the world still knows nothing of it. I often wonder, will that ever change or will it remain just another secret swallowed by war? You ~ Ruta Sepetys

Truth breaks the chains of silence." Puri puts a trembling hand to her chest. Her voice drops to a whisper.
"It sets us all free. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Your daughter, your sister. She is salt to the sea, ~ Ruta Sepetys

Better that he gets used to it,' he said.
Used to what, the feeling of uncontrolled anger? Or a sadness so deep, like your very core has been hollowed out and fed back to you from a dirty bucket? ~ Ruta Sepetys

I took several trips to New Orleans and met with people who had intimate knowledge of the underbelly of the city in the 1950s. The meetings were both fascinating and terrifying. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Look at you two. That- is the truth. ~ Ruta Sepetys

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

More than ten thousand people had been on board the Gustloff. The gruesome details of the sinking would be reported in every world newspaper. The tragedy would be studied for years, become legendary. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Why you frettin', Jo? You not sure?"
I inhaled my tears in order to speak. "I'm sure I want to go, but I'm not sure it's possible.Why would they accept me? And if they did, how would I pay for it? I don't want to get my hopes up only to be disappointed. I'm always disappointed."
"Now don't let fear keep you in New Orleans. Sometimes we set off down a road thinkin' we're goin' one place and we end up another. But that's okay. The important thing is to start. I know you can do it. Come on, Josie girl, give those ol' wings a try."
"Willie doesn't want me to."
"So what, you gonna stay here just so you can clean her house and run around with all the naked crazies in the Quarter? You got a bigger story than that. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I left the jutra to chop wood. I began my walk through the snow, five kilometers to the tree line. That's when I saw it. A tiny silver of gold appeared between shades of gray on the horizon.
I stared at the amber band of sunlight, smiling.
The sun had returned.
I closed my eyes. I felt Andrius moving close. "I'll see you," he said.
"Yes, I will see you," I whispered "I will."
I reached into my pocket and squeezed the stone. ~ Ruta Sepetys

The lie came out so easily it frightened me. I used to feel sick to my stomach when I heard Mother tell a lie. How can you do it? How do you live with yourself? I used to wonder. But here I was, lying to Miss Paulsen and smiling while doing it. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I knew the legends of the birds. Seagulls were the souls of dead soldiers. Owls were the souls of women. Doves were the recently departed souls of unmarried girls.
Was there a bird for the souls of people like me? ~ Ruta Sepetys

A guilty conscience is not worth extra food. ~ Ruta Sepetys

He opened his eyes and whispered to me. "Kind of incredible. She is you, she is your mother, your father, your country." He kissed her head and leaned down to whisper in my ear.
"She is Poland. ~ Ruta Sepetys

What was life asking of me? How could I respond when I didn't know the question? ~ Ruta Sepetys

Fate is a hunter. Engines ~ Ruta Sepetys

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be taken by anybody else, these pages must be shown. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I planted a seed of hatred in my heart. I swore it would grow to be a massive tree whose roots would strangle them all. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I didn't agree with Cokie. It wasn't just rich folks. Mother was soul broke, too. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Evil will rule until good men or women choose to act. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Writers of historical fiction would be lost without libraries and archives. ~ Ruta Sepetys

What was creepier, a man who loved clip-on ties or a girl who kept a log of fantasy fathers hidden in her desk drawer? ~ Ruta Sepetys

Tadas was sent to the principal today," announced Jonas at dinner. He wedged a huge piece of sausage into his small mouth.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because he talked about hell," sputtered Jonas, juice from the plump sausage dribbling down his chin.
"Jonas, don't speak with your mouth full. Take smaller pieces," scolded Mother.
"Sorry," said Jonas with his moth stuffed. "It's good." He finished chewing. I took a bite of sausage. It was warm and the skin was deliciously salty.
"Tadas told one of the girls that hell is the worst place ever and there's no escape for all eternity."
"Now why would Tadas be talking of hell?" asked Papa, reaching for the vegetables.
"Because his father told him that if Stalin comes to Lithuania, we'll all end up there. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Mrs. Rimas cried at the mention of the wafer and the traditional Christmas blessing. God grant that we are all together again next year. ~ Ruta Sepetys

We pushed to the edge of recklessness, yet I felt safe. ~ Ruta Sepetys

The fact that Cincinnati thought I resembled him in any way sickened me. It made me want to run and hide. When I was a child in Detroit and terrors chased me, I would run to my hiding spot, a crawl space under the front porch of the boardinghouse we lived in. I'd wedge my small body into the cool brown earth and lie there, escaping the ugliness that was inevitably going on above me. I'd plug my ears with my fingers and hum to block out the remnants of Mother's toxic tongue or sharp backhand. It became a habit, humming, and a decade later, I was still doing it. Life had turned cold again, the safety of the cocoon under the porch was gone, and lying in the dirt had become a metaphor for my life. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, you don't know how to dance, do you, Josephine? I didn't know how to dance. I didn't want anything to do with his biscuit. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I managed to escape the NKVD while sitting right in front of them. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I don't want to see no dead body. Willie ain't in there. She put her walkin' shoes on. She gone to see the Lord. ~ Ruta Sepetys

The old man nodded. "There's a saying, 'Death hath a thousand doors to let out life; I shall find one.' We all have a door that waits. I know that. I accept it. But the children. That's what I struggle with. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Andrius, I'm ... scared."
He stopped and turned to me. "No. Don't be scared. Don't give them anything Lina, not even your fear. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Those memories, they are the coals that shield my heart from frost. ~ Ruta Sepetys

We sat and drank in silence. It was something I appreciated about Jesse. He didn't feel the need to fill every moment with talk or some sort of silly exchange. ~ Ruta Sepetys

It amazed me how some people could touch an instrument and create something so beautiful, and when others tried, like me, it just sounded like mangled noise. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Silence has a voice of its own. ~ Ruta Sepetys

A wrongdoing doesn't give you the right to do wrong. You know that. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Sometimes kindness can be delivered in a clumsy way. But it's far more sincere in its clumsiness than those distinguished men you read about in books. Your father was very clumsy."
"Sometimes there is such beauty in awkwardness. There's love and emotion trying to express itself, but at the time, it just ends up being awkward. Good men are often more practical than pretty ... [He] just happens to be both. ~ Ruth Sepetys

I wanted to stay locked away from the pain and destruction. I didn't want to be strong. I didn't want to be the 'smart girl'. I was so very tired. I just wanted it all to be over. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Well, I don't know, Lina. But let's just say I've met a lot of dead people. ~ Ruta Sepetys

We all laced together - a brothel madam, an English professor, a mute cook, a quadroon cabbie, and me, the girl carrying a bucket of lies and throwing them like confetti. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Krasivaya. It means beautiful, but with strength. Unique. ~ Ruta Sepetys

The shoes always tell the story,' said the shoe poet.
'Not always,' I countered.
'Yes, always. Your boots, they are expensive, well made. That tells me that you come from a wealthy family. But the style is one made for and older woman. That tell me they probably belong to your mother. A mother sacrificed her boots for her daughter. That tells me you are loved, my dear. And your mother is not here, so that tells me that you are sad, my dear. The shoes tell the story. ~ Ruta Sepetys

We cannot be too cautious, Hannelore. Just because someone knocks on the door doesn't mean you have to open it. Sometimes, sweet girl, there are wolves at the door. If we are not careful, they might eat us. ~ Ruta Sepetys

But I had learned to read very young. They could never take that away from me. ~ Ruta Sepetys

He wasn't ugly, but if he picked a flower, I was fairly certain it would die in his hand. ~ Ruta Sepetys

'Between Shades of Gray' is a story of astonishing force. I feel grateful for a writer like Ruta Sepetys who bravely tells the hard story of what happens to the innocent when world leaders and their minions choose hate and oppression. Beautiful and unforgettable. ~ Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Perhaps tomorrow I would actually put pen to paper. ~ Ruta Sepetys

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a match. The two kids both have hand-me-down names of the ill repute." Jesse turned to me. "But actually, I win. You're named after a madam. I'm named after a murderer. So mine's worse. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I felt as if I were riding a pendulum. Just as I would swing into the abyss of hopelessness, the pendulum would swing back with some small goodness. ~ Ruta Sepetys

What had human beings become? Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us? ~ Ruta Sepetys

There's a saying, 'Death hath a thousand doors to let out life; I shall find one.' But the children. That's what I struggle with.' He shook his head. 'Why the children? ~ Ruta Sepetys

They're asking everyone for their name and information. They say we're going to Sassnitz, on the German island of Rügen.' She squeezed my hand.
I bent over and kissed the top of her head. I then leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes.
My name and information.
Who was I?
I looked down at Joana and the children.
Who did I want to be? ~ Ruta Sepetys

No Son [ ... ] Not a traitor to your country. Much worse. A traitor to your soul. ~ Ruta Sepetys

You'll have champagne. All girls like champagne.
All girls didn't like champagne. I preferred root beer. Willie preferred anything that smelled like gasoline and burned her throat. She could hold her liquor better than any man, and I wished she was there to help me navigate John Lockwell. ~ Ruta Sepetys

You think of nothing but yourself. If you want to kill yourself, what's keeping you?' I said. Silence sat between out stares.
'Fear,' he said. ~ Ruta Sepetys

For some reason, my hair always looked best right before bed, and what good was that? ~ Ruta Sepetys

your shoes are carrying your most valuable possession - your life. Do not delay. Everything else can be replaced, ~ Ruta Sepetys

This town will eat you up if you're not careful. But I won't be here forever. ~ Ruta Sepetys

I wished I had a friend in the Quarter, someone like Charlotte. Someone I could share secrets with, collapse on her bedroom floor, and spill my guts about Patrick to. I saw so many girls walking arm in arm, laughing, an inexplicable closeness and comfort that they had a protector and confidante. They had someone they could count on. ~ Ruta Sepetys