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Salt to the Sea

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Salt to the Sea

By: Ruta Sepetys
Narrated by: Jorjeana Marie, Will Damron, Cassandra Morris, Michael Crouch
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About this listen

New York Times Bestseller! "Masterly crafted"The Wall Street Journal

For readers of Between Shades of Gray and All the Light We Cannot See, bestselling author Ruta Sepetys returns to WWII in this epic novel that shines a light on one of the war's most devastating—yet unknown—tragedies.

World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, many with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in each other tested with each step closer to safety.

Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people—adults and children alike—aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.

Told in alternating points of view and perfect for fans of Anthony Doerr's Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See, Erik Larson's Dead Wake, and Elizabeth Wein's Printz Honor Book Code Name Verity, this masterful work of historical fiction is inspired by the real-life tragedy that was the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloffthe greatest maritime disaster in history. As she did in Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys unearths a shockingly little-known casualty of a gruesome war, and proves that humanity and love can prevail, even in the darkest of hours.

Praise for Salt to the Sea:

“Jorjeana Marie, Will Damron, Cassandra Morris, and Michael Crouch perform mesmerizing narration worthy of Sepetys’s spectacular novel. VERDICT Libraries with even the most limited audio budgets will want to invest.” –School Library Journal, starred review

“The talented narrators excel in capturing the tone of their characters…. [They] work together to create a vivid and well-rounded reading experience, [and] bring forth the truth of the wartime experience.” –Booklist, starred review

“The four narrators (Jorjeana Marie, Will Damron, Cassandra Morris and Michael Crouch) are superbly cast...The story’s plot and pacing translate beautifully to the audio medium.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review

Featured on NPR's Morning Edition ♦ “Superlative…masterfully crafted…[a] powerful work of historical fiction.”—The Wall Street Journal ♦ “[Sepetys is] a master of YA fiction…she once again anchors a panoramic view of epic tragedy in perspectives that feel deeply textured and immediate.”—Entertainment Weekly ♦ "Riveting...powerful...haunting."—The Washington Post ♦ “Compelling for both adult and teenage readers.”—New York Times Book Review ♦ “Intimate, extraordinary, artfully crafted…brilliant.”—Shelf Awareness ♦ "Historical fiction at its very, very best."—The Globe and Mail “[H]aunting, heartbreaking, hopeful and altogether gorgeous…one of the best young-adult novels to appear in a very long time.”—Salt Lake Tribune
Action & Adventure Historical Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Survival Stories Survival Fiction War Tear-jerking Heartfelt Military Holocaust Russia

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All stars
Most relevant
interesting to hear from different viewpoints. we should remember so we don't have to re-live.

remember

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If you could sum up Salt to the Sea in three words, what would they be?

Wonderful, heartbreaking and honest.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

The final scenes are heartbreaking but justified. It never felt like the author was writing a story, rather she was narrating someone else's.

Incredible tale of humanity at it's best and worst

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so sad. poor Opi, our light.. was gone. also Alfred was a psycho.. almost got tricked by his love letters

the short chapter

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I loved this book it was narated very well. To me the book has no down side. It made me cry and smile. I can honetly say this is my favoret book. But if you dont like to cry or be emotional its not the book for you. It still haunts me how this was never talked about and more need to reads the bookso they can now about this tradegy.

Beautiful Book

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Fantastic book. Don't be put off by the young adult thing. In turns sad, exciting and engaging

Brilliant

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