01c. 1967 ADHe wrapped his arms around me and planted a kiss straight on my lips, hard and long. It felt like I was watching the kiss instead of being inside of it.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
02c. 1967 ADWell, I don't know, Lina. But let's just say I've met a lot of dead people.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
03c. 1967 ADTadas was sent to the principal today," announced Jonas at dinner. He wedged a huge piece of sausage into his small mouth."Why?" I asked."Because he talked about hell," sputtered Jonas, juice from the plump sausage dribbling down his chin."Jonas, don't speak with your mouth full. Take smaller pieces," scolded Mother."Sorry," said Jonas with his moth stuffed. "It's good." He finished chewing. I took a bite of sausage. It was warm and the skin was deliciously salty."Tadas told one of the girls that hell is the worst place ever and there's no escape for all eternity.""Now why would Tadas be talking of hell?" asked Papa, reaching for the vegetables."Because his father told him that if Stalin comes to Lithuania, we'll all end up there.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
04c. 1967 ADAnd she didn't judge nobody. She loved everyone equal- accountants, queers, musicians, she welcomed us all, said we were all idiots just the same.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
05c. 1967 ADThe only reason I'd lift my skirt is to pull a pistol and plug you in the head.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
06c. 1967 ADHe 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 / quote ↗
08c. 1967 ADHe threw his burning cigarette onto our clean living room floor and ground it into the wood with his boot.We were about to become cigarettes.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
09c. 1967 ADWhat 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 / quote ↗
10c. 1967 ADBut all of the survivors had one thing in common, and that was love. They survived through love. Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy—love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
11c. 1967 ADI don't want to see no dead body. Willie ain't in there. She put her walkin' shoes on. She gone to see the Lord.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
12c. 1967 ADAll the little duckies with their heads in the waterHeads in the waterAll the little duckies with their heads in the waterOh, such sweet little duckies.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
13c. 1967 ADI 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 waterHeads in the water.It was my punishment. Honor lost. Everything lost.Shame is a hunter.My shame was all around me now.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
14c. 1967 ADWe'd be trying to touch the sky from the bottom of the ocean. I realize that if we boosted one another, maybe we'd get a little closer.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
15c. 1967 ADI remembered Papa talking about Stalin confiscating peasants' land, tools, and animals. He told them what crops they would produce and how much they would be paid. I thought it was ridiculous. How could Stalin simply take something that didn't belong to him, something that a farmer and his family had worked their whole lives for? "That's communism, Lina," Papa had said.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
16c. 1967 ADYou stand for what is right, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
18c. 1967 ADIt grey louder. Louder. They were singing, singing at the top of their lungs. Andrius joined, and then my brother and the gray-haired man. And finally, the bald man joined in, singing out national anthem. 'Lithuania, land of heroes...Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
19c. 1967 ADJo, they have a baby grand piano, but no one in the family plays. They have shelves of books they've never read, and the tension between the couples was so thick it nearly choked us.""Let me tell you something 'bout those rich Uptown folk," said Cokie. "They got everything that money can buy, their bank accounts are fat, but they ain't happy. They ain't ever gone be happy. You know why? They soul broke. And money can't fix that, no sir. My friend Bix was poor. Lord, he had to blow that trumpet ten hours a day just to put a little taste in the pot. Died poor, too. You saw him, Jo, with that plate on his chest. But that man wasn't soul broke.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
20c. 1967 ADWhat if this is a horrible mistake?" I croaked. "Oh, it'll be horrible fine, just a bunch of pretentious rich people with shelves of expensive books they've never read.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
21c. 1967 ADNew Orleans is unlike any city in America. Its cultural diversity is woven into the food, the music, the architecture - even the local superstitions. It's a sensory experience on all levels and there's a story lurking around every corner.Ruta Sepetys / quote ↗
