Award
- Junior Library Guild selection
- William C. Morris finalist
- Golden Kite Award for Fiction
- YALSA's Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults
Ms. Sepetys spent three years researching material for Salt to the Sea. I am always amazed when I read about an historical event of which I have never heard. I was never told in any history class about the Japanese Interment camps in the U.S. during World War II. I knew nothing about them until I read the book Farewell to Manzanar after I started teaching. The same thing was true of Salt to the Sea. I had never even heard of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustoff, the greatest maritime disaster in history. Everyone knows about the sinking of the Titanic and the loss of 1,517 lives. The Wilhelm Gustoff was built for about 1,700 passengers and crew, but was carrying about 10,000 civilians and German millitary personnel desperately trying to escape East Prussia before the Soviet army arrived. When the Wilhelm Gustoff was torpedoed by a Soviet sub, 9,000 lives were lost. Four other ships being used in the evacuation were also sunk that day with a total loss of 17,500 lives on those four ships. Salt to the Sea follows four of the people who were on the Wilhelm Gustoff. Author Introduction to book
If you are interested in other books like this, try the following books from the TAHS library:
- In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton
- Out of the Depths: An Unforgettable WW II Story of Survival, Courage, and the Sinking of The USS Indianapolis by Edgar Harrell, USMC with his son David Harrell
- The Last Voyage of the Lusitania by A.A. Hoehling and Mary Duprey Hoehling
Awards and Honors
- Junior Library Guild selection
- Carnegie Medal
- 2017 YA:SA Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adult Readers
- 2017 Virginia Readers' Choice - High School list