Ruta Sepetys: Sometimes there is such beauty in awkwardness.

I leapt eagerly into books. The characters’ lives were so much more interesting than the lonely heartbeat of my own.

Ruta Sepetys

lonely character book

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

scared giving

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

riding hopelessness swings

He threw his burning cigarette onto our clean living room floor and ground it into the wood with his boot. We were about to become cigarettes.

Ruta Sepetys

burning woods boots

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

spirit country enemy

People I didn't know formed a circle around me, sheltering me from view. They escorted me safely back to our jurta, undetected. They didn't ask for anything. They were happy to help someone, to succeed at something, even if they weren't to benefit. We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer.

Ruta Sepetys

ocean views sky

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

together-again blessing years

A wrongdoing doesn't give us the right to do wrong.

Ruta Sepetys

wrongdoing giving

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

important ends sometimes

Decisions, they shape our destiny.

Ruta Sepetys

destiny shapes decision

Tragedy was a big social event, and everyone wanted in on it.

Ruta Sepetys

events tragedy social

We'd been trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realized that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer.

Ruta Sepetys

ocean sky trying

Some wars are about bombing. For the people of the Baltics, this war was about believing. In 1991, after 50 years of brutal occupation, the three Baltic countries regained their independence, peacefully and with dignity. They chose hope over hate and showed the world that even through the darkest night, there is light. Please research it. Tell someone. These three tiny nations have taught us that love is the most powerful army. 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

powerful hate country

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

dream teacher art

Some things just won’t go away, no matter how hard you scrub.

Ruta Sepetys

hard going-away matter

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

hatred roots heart

Good men are often more practical than pretty " said Mother. "Andrius just happens to be both.

Ruta Sepetys

good-man mother men

Krasivaya. It means beautiful, but with strength. Unique.

Ruta Sepetys

unique beautiful mean

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

Ruta Sepetys

asking knows life

What do you do with all this bank, Josie? Be a lot easier if you just lifted your skirt.” “The only reason I’d lift my skirt is to pull out my pistol and plug you in the head.

Ruta Sepetys

pistols skirts reason