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.”

“You stand for what is right, Lina, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.”

“What had human beings become? Did war make us evil or just activate an evil already lurking within us?”

“What did I want? I wanted the war to be over so I could ask her out.”

“But how can they just decide that we're animals? They don't even know us," I said."We know us," said Mother. "They're wrong. And don't ever allow them to convince you otherwise. Do you understand?”

“War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.”

“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.”

“Sometimes there is such beauty in awkwardness.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Your daughter, your sister. She is salt to the sea,”

“Mother, why are you breaking your beautiful things?' I asked...'Because I love them so much.”

“In 1991, after fifty 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. These three tiny nations have taught us that love is the most powerful army. Whether love of a friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy- love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.”

“They were happy to help someone, to succeed at something, even if they weren't to benefit.”

“But wasn't there some sort of rule that said parents had to be smarter than their kids? It didn't seem fair.”

“No Son [. . .] Not a traitor to your country. Much worse. A traitor to your soul.”

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

“How foolish to believe we are more powerful than the sea or the sky.”

“I adore themes of hope and courage and the ways we find meaning through suffering.”

“A guilty conscience is not worth extra food.”