Out of the Shadows

Family secrets swirl around twelve-year-old Lithuanian-American, Ona Backus, clouding her past and obscuring her future. She yearns to become a “real American” yet doesn’t understand why her family is hiding information about a missing uncle who went to Lithuania after World War II and never returned.When a mysterious suddenly stranger appears, she is whisked away to Pennsylvania to spend the summer with Lithuanian relatives.Using her camera, her curiosity, and her determination, Ona stands up to a pair of baseball bullies, a fierce storm, and her family’s mysterious past, ending the summer with a new understanding of Lithuanian traditions, mythology, the art of wood carving, secrets revealed, and an acceptance of herself. Read more