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She is a Lithuanian- American and has recieved the Carnegie Medal.

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Joana is set as a different type of character from the beginning of the novel. The reader can see she is compassionate and cares deeply for the well-being of others.
"I crawled through the snow toward the pink of Emilia's hat and draped my body over hers" (110).

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During her time in the village near Nemmersdorf Emilia worked on a farm.
"'Her father is some sort of math professor and sent her to East Prussia where she might be safer. She ended up working on a farm.' Eva lowered her voice. 'Near Nemmersdorf'" (30).

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Though it is not specifically stated it is noted that Emilia is from Southern Poland but spent years in a German village near Nemmersdorf.
"'Her name is Emilia. She's from southern Poland. Her father sent her away for safety... near Nemmersdorf" (33).

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The four characters are fleeing Poland toward the German coast during WWII to go to Sweeden.

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Another secondary character is someone the people in the group call The Poet. He was an old shoemaker and insists that the shoes a person is wearing tells their story. This brings the importance of the character's clothing.
"My heel. He had heard the hollow in my step as I walked across the room. He knew" (89).

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Eva, a secondary character that is traveling with Joana when Florian and Emilia join them is characterized as very judgmental and as a product of her time period has a vice against the people not supported by Hitler.
"'We can't bring this girl with us. Her coat is splattered with blood. She's clearly in trouble. And she's Polish" (31).

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Though it may not seem important, Florian is a good dancer.
"Unfortunately, I was a better dancer than she was and it made her angry" (86).
Though small it shows the humanity and normality in the novel that these characters lack due to their circumstances and it shows a hidden skill that Florian has.

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Throughout their interactions, the reader can see the beginnings of an important relationship between Florian and Joana, something more than friendship.
"I wanted to laugh, to keep talking with her, but instead I said nothing" (87).

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Florian is wounded when he meets Joana.
"'Shrapnel. About two days ago. You stopped the bleeding by applying pressure but that pushed the fragments deeper, causing more pain. It's infected. You poured liquid on it at some point'" (33).

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Each of these characters seem to be in their teens, either the beginning of their teen years like Emilia or their late teens like Florian, but what each character is going through is a key component in each of their lives. What they hear and see and what they experience affects them.
"Nemmersdorf. Everyone knew the rumors. A few months ago the Russians stormed the village and reportedly committed vicious acts of brutality. Women were nailed to barn doors, children mutilated" (30

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Florian is described to have grey eyes.
"His eyes were grey" (81)

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As the Character name of Florian is hidden from the other characters, the reader knows of it due to the Chapter titles being the character names.
"My name. I was named for a sixteenth-century painter my mother adored. No. I would not tell her. No conversations" (34)

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All of the characters are moving toward one goal throughout the novel and that is asylum and to live.
"The ice. The goal we trekked toward. If we crossed the frozen Vistula lagoon, we could then make our way down the narrow strip of land to either Pillau or Gotenhafen" (90).

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Florian has a secret and is carrying something that we cannon know about. He believes that it is the right thing to do but the reader could disagree. This shows a difference in morality and ethics.
"So now I risked everything, confronting fate and the knowledge that I had authored my own demise. But only if I failed" (108).

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The speech varies for each character as the style in which each character speaks gives the reader insight on the age, maturity, and origin of each character. For example, Emilia speaks as if she is like a child and speaks in Polish a majority of the time.
"The knight saved me and now I had saved the knight" (76).
This shows an immaturity in the character and how young she is.

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Because the setting of the novel is in a different country and during a different time period, many words are used differently and change in context to the situation.
"Resettler, indicating that Germany had allowed me to repatriate from Lithuania" (104).
"'Junker' meant 'young gentleman'" (81).

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Seeing as none of the main characters do not have a specific residence they're running toward their new residence. All have lost their old home but each of them stay the night in various places.
"We brought her into the house" (79).
Because they had previously stayed in places like abandoned barns, being able to stay the night in a house was a luxury.

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Sepetys, Ruta. Salt to the Sea. Philomel Books, 2016.

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Up to the point that I have read the title has not been explained. I assume the meaning of the title is explained later on in the book. closer to the climax.