They got everything money can buy, their bank accounts are fat, but they ain't happy. They ain't ever going to be happy. You know why? They soul broke. And money can't fix that, no sir.

— Ruta Sepetys

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.

— Ruta Sepetys

They were happy to help someone, to succeed at something, even if they weren't to benefit.

— Ruta Sepetys

Unless it was Coke, gifts from men weren't free.

— Ruta Sepetys

War had bled color from everything, leaving nothing but a storm of gray.

— Ruta Sepetys

War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.

— Ruta Sepetys

We cannot be too cautious, Bangalore. Just because someone knocks on the door doesn't mean you have to open it. Sometimes, sweet girl, there are wolves at the door. If we are not careful, they might eat us.

— Ruta Sepetys

We'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

Well, I don't know, Lina. But let's just say I've met a lot of dead people.

— Ruta Sepetys

We pushed to the edge of recklessness, yet I felt safe.

— Ruta Sepetys