Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

 WWII is winding down and the German army is fleeing East Prussia.  Four young adults are heading for the coast, hoping for passage out of the country.  They each have their own past, and their own secrets.  As they endure harrowing trials, they pull together, and unite with other travelers to form kind of family.  Then they board the ill fated ship, the Wilhelm Gustoff.  

This is a a riviting WWII drama unlike any other I have read.  The setting and historical backdrop are unusual.  I actually hadn't heard of the Wilhelm Gustoff tragedy before.  Nor was I very familiar with the German experience in Russia. The thing that makes the book so engaging, though, are characterizations. Each of the point of view characters, (including a forth, a German soldier, Albert) are brilliantly drawn and multilayered.  It is a teen book, so, of course, there is a romance involved, but the book isn't about the romance, it is just about what war does to people and how people get through it.  Here is another book I will be recommending a lot to teens and adults. (2016, 391 p)