'Between Shades of Gray' 鈥� probably not the book you're thinking of
Young adult author Ruta Sepetys says her novel 'Between Shades of Gray,' about a Lithuanian girl sent to one of Stalin's work camps, is frequently being mixed up with E L James' erotic trilogy.
Young adult author Ruta Sepetys says her novel 'Between Shades of Gray,' about a Lithuanian girl sent to one of Stalin's work camps, is frequently being mixed up with E L James' erotic trilogy.
Confused book buyers may be ending up with a different novel than they meant to purchase when it comes to the similarly titled 鈥�50 Shades of Grey鈥� by E L James and the young adult novel 鈥淏etween Shades of Gray鈥� by Ruta Sepetys.
鈥淏etween Shades of Gray鈥� was released last year and tells the story of a Lithuanian teenager who is sent to one of Stalin鈥檚 work camps in Siberia in 1941, while 鈥淪hades" is an erotic novel that follows college student Anastasia Steele and billionaire 海角大神 Grey. "50 Shades of Grey" has been racing up the bestseller charts and has become a publishing phenomenon. (If you search the Barnes and Noble website for "Between," "50 Shades of Grey" actually comes up first.)
Both James and Sepetys are currently on tour, Sepetys for the paperback edition of her book, and Sepetys told Entertainment Weekly that she鈥檚 attracted a lot of 鈥淕ray鈥� fans, many of them men and many of whom stay to listen even after figuring out she鈥檚 not that author.
鈥淭he subject has come up at every high school and every bookstore I鈥檝e been to,鈥� Sepetys said.
After its release, 鈥淏etween Shades of Gray鈥� was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the best children鈥檚 books of 2011 and was a finalist for the William C. Morris young adult debut award for 2012, among other recognition.
Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.