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Lina Vilkas- Lina is a 15 year old girl living in Lithuania, living with her mother, father, and her younger brother Jonas. She has a passion for drawing and aspires to attend a school for the arts, so she can grow into an artist. She lives the life of a normal teenage girl; going to school, making friends, until one day when everything changes. She is ripped out of her home, away from her father and relatives and forced into cattle cars and labor camps under the cruel control of the Soviets. Throughout her journey, Lina makes drawings to let her father and future generations know what happened and where she went. Her determinated soul and courageous actions help Lina and her family stay strong and healthy through the hardest of times.
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Jonas Vilkas- Jonas is the younger brother of Lina. At 10 years old, he has virtually no clue what's going on through the book, or why him and his family were taken under the Soviets' control in the first place. He looks up to Lina and admires her brave, kind actions. Jonas is a beloved character in the book, adored by everyone he meets. He has no speck of evil in his heart and is a loving ,caring boy. Jonas befriends a boy who's about the same age as Lina, named Andrius, while on the cattle cars. He begins to look to Andrius as a role model and loves to spend time with him and do whatever he's doing. Jonas is a playful boy who always looks to his elders for assurance. His kindhearted spirit and everlasting hope and faith creates room for a sliver of light during the hardest of times throughout the novel.
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Elena Vilkas- Elena is the loving mother of Lina and Jonas Vilkas. She always carries an optimistic aura to keep her children from having the slightest of worries. Elena is almost always assuring her children that everything will soon become normal again. She will sacrifice anything for her children's happiness and health, like her day's ration of food. Although she acts like she is doing just fine through the novel, the fact that she doesn't know where her husband is and if he's even alive, kills her inside. Elena carries all of the traits of a great mother: she is caring, loving, protective, selfless, and always thinks about others. Throughout the novel, she shows strength and love to her children, and offers help to anyone that needs it. Elena is a great role model to her children.
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Andrius Arvydas- The author intoduces Andrius into the story when Lina and her family are thrown into the cattle cars. He is around the same age as Lina and becomes a friend of hers and a role model to Jonas. He is kind, confident, and makes sacrifices for the well being of his mother, whom he loves very much. Andrius is a very strong, stubborn boy. He is independent, and his situation with his mother in the camps makes him very angry. Lina's mother becomes friends with his mother, and they share a concern for their husbands' lives. Andrius is a strong-willed boy who stands up for those he loves.