yari asked Ruta Sepetys:

Hi. I love "Between shades of gray", and I was wondering why you like to base your books on different parts of history? Any war themed book you'd like to recommend?

Ruta Sepetys Hi Yaritza! Thanks for your question. I am drawn to hidden history and stories of strength through struggle, so I look for topics that contain those elements. Writing historical fiction is like being a detective. I love discovering secrets and lost heroes. Sometimes history can be perceived as boring. But through characters and story, historical statistics become human and suddenly we care for people we've never met, we can find their country on a map, and then—the history matters. Through historical fiction we can give voice those who will never have a chance to tell their story. That inspires me! A war themed book I'd recommend is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

flag