Ruta Sepetys is making her way into the role of the dominant writer in YA Historical Fiction. She has a way of finding forgotten stories and making you question why no one knows about them. I was first introduced to her writing through the book Between Shades of Gray (an 8th grade summer reading choice). It was an excellent book and I was surprised to learn that I hadn't heard more about that book. Afterwards, I also read her story Out of the Easy, which focused more on a time period than a specific event. Now, her third story Salt to the Sea was released about a month ago
Salt to the Sea takes place during World War II and focuses on the journey four young people take to find their way to freedom from persecution, evacuation, etc. However, they find their way into the the greatest maritime disaster in history -- but an event most people, myself included, probably didn't know about. Sepetys has a poetic way of writing and a way to evoke so many emotions while reading. In my opinion, this book doesn't have the same emotional punch of Between Shades of Gray, but fans of that book will probably enjoy this one as well. One striking difference between the two is that Salt to the Sea is told through alternating points of view of the four characters. While this first bothered me because it made it different to learn about the characters, it does become cohesive and let you see different angles and sides to the stories. However, one of the characters I found grating, and while I understanding why she included this person, I still believe the story would work better without that fourth side.
It does deal with some mature topics and the development of the historical background, and for that, I would side with the Amazon recommendation of Grades 8 and up for the book.
