Set in Romania in 1989, this book follows seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu, an aspiring writer blackmailed by the secret police into becoming an informer. As communist regimes crumble across Europe, Cristian risks everything to expose the truth about life under Nicolae Ceaușescu’s dictatorship. Sepetys brings to light a lesser-known chapter of European history while highlighting the resilience of the human spirit. Through Cristian’s story, I Must Betray You explores themes of resistance, freedom, courage, and the power of ordinary people to challenge oppressive systems.

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Open to K–12 educators living in the contiguous United States

This free, online event is open to all and especially designed for K–12 educators seeking resources and perspectives for teaching about the cold war, displacement, and the human experience behind the headlines.

About Author Ruta Sepetys

Ruta Sepetys (Rūta Šepetys) is an internationally acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction published in over sixty countries and forty languages. Considered a “crossover” novelist, her books are read by both students and adults worldwide. Winner of the Carnegie Medal and honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Ruta is renowned for giving voice to underrepresented history and those who experienced it. Her books have won or been shortlisted for more than fifty book prizes, appear on over forty state reading lists, and are currently in development for film and television.

Ruta is the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee. Born in Michigan, she was raised in a family of artists, readers, and music lovers. She is passionate about the power of history to foster dialogue and global understanding. Her research and writing on human resilience have earned her invitations to speak at NATO, European Parliament, the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress, and Embassies worldwide. She has been awarded fellowships from The University of Oxford in England and The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in Italy. The New York Times Book Review declared, “Ruta Sepetys acts as champion of the interstitial people so often ignored—whole populations lost in the cracks of history.”

Ruta was 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 deeply grateful for her Baltic heritage— even if it means she has a name that no one can pronounce.

About I Must Betray You

Trust no one.
Tell no one
Spies are everywhere.

Romania, 1989.

Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer, but Romanians aren’t free to dream; they are bound by rules and force. Amidst the tyrannical dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu in a country governed by isolation and fear, Cristian is blackmailed by the secret police to become an informer. He’s left with only two choices: betray everyone and everything he loves—or use his position to creatively undermine the most notoriously evil dictator in Eastern Europe.

Cristian risks everything to unmask the truth behind the regime, give voice to fellow Romanians, and expose to the world what is happening in his country. He eagerly joins the revolution to fight for change when the time arrives. But what is the cost of freedom? (Source: author’s website)

This event is co-sponsored with the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia at UW–Madison.