April 22, 2023
There was a full house at this year’s OneBook OneLakeville main author event! People of all ages attended, including families with children. The discussion of I Must Betray You took attendees through a range of emotions, from laughter to tears.
Emcee Miss Shannan Paul did an outstanding job hosting and dialoguing. She easily transitioned from interviewing New York Times Bestselling Author Ruta Sepetys to taking questions from the audience and returning to Ruta’s on stage conversation with humor and thoughtfulness.
We are grateful for the genuine, honest and expansive insight Ruta provided about her work, as well as for the reminder of how fragile democracy can be and how important it is to listen to each other’s stories for greater understanding of and compassion toward one another.
Mager & Quinn Booksellers broke records for book sales at this event and sold 85 copies of Ruta’s books. Fans of her work, attendees waited in line for up to an hour to have Ruta sign their books and to pose with her for pictures.
A pre-event reception – exclusively for Romanian and Lithuanian community members at the author’s request — was well attended. The Heritage Organization of Romanian Americans (HORA) provided beautiful and tasty Romanian desserts from Delicatesse a la Nina.
On Friday, Ruta visited LSHS and LNHS and spent the day in conversation with students and staff. I Must Betray You appealed to all and students appreciated the question-and-answer format as well as her delightful and often humorous storytelling.
Thank you to the City of Lakeville, the Lakeville School District, the Lakeville Chamber of Commerce and the Lakeville Area Arts Center for their continued support of OneBook OneLakeville. Thank you also to all of our sponsors, listed below, that help make this valued community read possible.
Please check out the photo highlights from all the OneBook OneLakeville events on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HeritageLibraryFriends (Note: You don’t need to be on Facebook to see them as it’s a public page.)
About the Book
I Must Betray You is a gut-wrenching, startling historical thriller about communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation.
In this novel, master storyteller Ruta Sepetys examines the little-known history of a nation defined by silence, pain, and the unwavering conviction of the human spirit.
About the author:
Ruta Sepetys is considered a “crossover” novelist as her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Winner of the Carnegie Medal, Ruta is acclaimed for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it. Her books have won or been shortlisted for over forty book prizes, are included on over thirty state reading lists, and are currently in development for film and television. Her first novel, which chronicles the Soviet atrocities in Lithuania, has been adapted into the renowned major motion picture, Ashes in the Snow.
Ruta is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee. Born in Michigan, she was raised in a family of artists, readers, and music lovers. Ruta is passionate about the power of history and story to foster global dialogue and connectivity. She has been invited to present at NATO, the European Parliament, the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress, and Embassies worldwide. She was awarded The Rockefeller Foundation’s prestigious Bellagio Fellowship for her studies on human resilience.
Ruta was recently bestowed the Cross of the Knight of the Order by the President of Lithuania for her contributions to education and memory preservation and was honored with a postage stamp containing her image. She is intensely proud to be Lithuanian, even if that means she has a name no one can pronounce (Rūta Šepetys). Ruta lives with her family in the hills of Tennessee.
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About OneBook, OneLakeville
Entering its fifteenth year, OneBook OneLakeville promotes reading, literacy, and community interaction by engaging members of the Lakeville community in reading and discussing the same book.
OneBook OneLakeville sponsors:
Thank you!
City of Lakeville
Cornerstone Copy Center
Dakota County Library
Green Mill Restaurant & Bar
Lakeville Lions
Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
Minnesota Association of Library Friends
Rotary Club of Lakeville
Subway Heritage Square
Sigrid Ruhmann
OneBook OneLakeville past selections
Friends of the Lakeville Heritage Library 