Told in four alternating voices-Lithuanian nurse Joana, Polish Emilia, Prussian forger Florian, and German soldier Alfred-with often contemporary cadences, this stints on neither history nor fiction. Returning to the successful formula of her highly lauded debut, Between Shades of Gray (2011), Sepetys combines research (described in extensive backmatter) with well-crafted fiction to bring to life another little-known story: the sinking (from Soviet torpedoes) of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff. January 1945: as Russians advance through East Prussia, four teens’ lives converge in hopes of escape.
The characters are superbly drawn portrayed as whole people, the various elements of their identities are not the entirety of who they are.
Their relationship prepares one of the girls to become president of the United States, and the twist ending will come as a surprise. Over the course of the year, the friends weather obstacles and realize the power of their friendship. Latinx artist Ava, who lives with depression, desires to find her birth mother and attend art school against her mother’s wishes white cross-country athlete CJ, who is self-conscious about her body, can’t crack the SATs, so she strengthens her college application by volunteering with disabled children biracial (black/white) student journalist Jordan lies about her age to interview a handsome councilman’s aide, and a mutual crush develops STEM-focused white lesbian Martha, named for her ancestor Martha Washington, worries that her family can’t afford MIT. This is far from their only problem: Though each is talented, they struggle this year with emotional, academic, social, and financial issues. When their senior rite of passage, carving one’s name into the jungle gym at a local park, is threatened by a city council that wants to demolish the park, the girls rally to save the place where they became friends. The future is female: Her name is President Diffenderfer.īest friends since kindergarten, Ava, CJ, Jordan, and Martha tackle their senior year with great aplomb in Watson’s debut.
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