1
Killers aren't always assassins. Sometimes, they don't even have blood on their hands.Ruta Sepetys
2
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
3
I didn't need his criticism. I carried enough guilt on my own. I had done everything wrong. I had the highest marks in school but couldn't master common sense.Ruta Sepetys
4
What did I want? I wanted the war to be over so I could ask her out.Ruta Sepetys
5
Just when you think this war has taken everything you loved, you meet someone and realize that somehow you still have more to give.Ruta Sepetys
6
The soldier stared at Ingrid. His silence was elastic, slowly curling a rope around her neck.Ruta Sepetys
7
Revolting. If women were so careless to become pregnant at such a time, let women sort it out.Ruta Sepetys
8
Everyone has a price, ” she said.“ But clearly not everyone has a soul,Ruta Sepetys
9
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
10
Every nation has hidden history, countless stories preserved only by those who experienced them. Stories of war are often read and discussed worldwide by readers whose nations stood on opposite sides during battle. History divided us, but through reading we can be united in story, study, and remembrance. Books join us together as a global reading community, but more important, a global human community striving to learn from the past. .Ruta Sepetys
11
War had bled color from everything, leaving nothing but a storm of gray.Ruta Sepetys
12
What had human beings become? Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us?Ruta Sepetys
13
My war had been so long, my winter so cold. But i had made it home. And for the first time in a long time, i was not afraid.Ruta Sepetys
14
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
15
Mother was anchor. 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
16
But unlike Mama, I would not go to heaven. My secrets padlocked the gates. I'd be a torn kite stuck in the dead branches of a tree, unable to fly.Ruta Sepetys
17
War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.Ruta Sepetys
18
Your daughter, your sister. She is salt to the sea,Ruta Sepetys
19
How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky.Ruta Sepetys
20
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
21
It's safer for you to stay with the others, ' he said. Safer? He didn't realize. I was already dead.Ruta Sepetys
22
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 landRuta Sepetys
23
No Son [.. .] Not a traitor to your country. Much worse. A traitor to your soul.Ruta Sepetys
24
Death, it seems, has a mind of its own.Ruta Sepetys
25
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
26
I became good at pretending. I became so good that after a while the lines blurred between my truth and fiction. And sometimes, when I did a really good job of pretending, I even fooled myself.Ruta Sepetys
27
Per aspera ad astra, Papa, ' I whispered. Through hardship to the stars.Ruta Sepetys
28
He wanted to know something about me. I leaned over and put my mouth to his ear. It was barely a whisper.' I'm a murderer.Ruta Sepetys
29
Perhaps tomorrow I would actually put pen to paper.Ruta Sepetys
30
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
31
All the little duckies with their heads in the water Heads in the water All the little duckies with their heads in the water Oh, such sweet little duckies.Ruta Sepetys
32
I was surrounded by hundreds of drowned children, heads in the water, their little feet in the air. All the little duckies, with their heads in the water Heads in the water. It was my punishment. Honor lost. Everything lost. Shame is a hunter. My shame was all around me now.Ruta Sepetys