Filipovic, Z. (1994). Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo. New York: Scholastic, Inc.
· Plot Summary
Zlata is an eleven year-old living in Sarajevo, a girl with the same interests as many of her friends: the radio, super models, and boys. Her parents are well off, and the family not only owns a second home where they go to relax, but also make trips to other countries for vacations on a regular basis. All of this changes when war breaks out, and within only the span of three months, Zlata's world is turned upside down. Her friend's families leave if they can, but her own must remain because her father is occasionally called upon by the Reserves. In the period between April 9th and July 14th, things have deteriorated so drastically that her school has closed, her best friend is killed, and her family is having to receive humanitarian aid from the United Nations. Over the course of the next year, her school is open intermittently, and the electricity does much the same. Her parents lose so much weight they cannot wear their old clothing any longer, and both of her pets die.
· Critical Evaluation
Sobering account of wartime Sarajevo from one of its citizens, the horrors to be described foreshadowed when Zlata mentions Anne Frank's diary when she decides to keep one of her own. Zlata is an inspiration, and manages to insert moments of amusing quirkiness into many of her entries, though there is often a passing back and forth between the humor and heartbreak of the entries.
· Reader’s Annotation
Most likely best appreciated by tweens in Zlata's own age group, although some boys may be put off by the dramatic way in which Zlata writes almost every entry.
· Information about the author
Zlata Filipovic kept her diary for over two years before her family was finally transported from Sarajevo in armored vehicles to a Serbian checkpoint, then took a plane to the safety zone that was Paris, France.
· Genre
Non-Fiction
Biography
· Curriculum Ties
History
Race relations
· Booktalking Ideas
Events and circumstances of the Sarajevo/Bosnian War
Examples of ethnic cleansing in history. (Hitler's Europe, Stalin and Soviet policy, Rwanda, Sudan)
· Reading Level/Interest Age
Grades 6-9/Ages 11-14
· Why did you include this book in the titles you selected?
I was interested in using a biography, and ran across this diary on a "Free Books" shelf in my office building. I graduated high school in 1994, but like most American's in my age group at the time, I missed a great deal of the details involved in the war.
