Zlata's Diary by Zlata Filipovic

Title: Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo
Author: Zlata Filipovic
Type: Nonfiction
Genre: Diary
Series: No
Pages: 208
Copyright: 1994
Publisher:Viking Penguin
Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: from Good Reads
In a voice both innocent and wise, touchingly reminiscent of Anne Frank's, Zlata Filipovic's diary has awoken the conscience of the world. Now thirteen years old, Zlata began her diary just before her eleventh birthday, when there was peace in Sarajevo and her life was that of a bright, intelligent, carefree young girl. Her early entries describe her friends, her new skis, her family, her grades at school, her interest in joining the Madonna Fan Club. And then, on television, she sees the bombs falling on Dubrovnik. Though repelled by the sight, Zlata cannot conceive of the same thing happening in Sarajevo. When it does, the whole tone of her diary changes. Early on, she starts an entry to "Dear Mimmy" (named after her dead goldfish): "SLAUGHTERHOUSE! MASSACRE! HORROR! CRIMES! BLOOD! SCREAMS! DESPAIR!" We see the world of a child increasingly circumscribed by the violence outside. Zlata is confined to her family's apartment, spending the nights, as the shells rain down mercilessly, in a neighbor's cellar. And the danger outside steadily invades her life. No more school. Living without water and electricity. Food in short supply. The onslaught destroys the pieces she loves, kills or injures her friends, visibly ages her parents. In one entry Zlata cries out, "War has nothing to do with humanity. War is something inhuman." In another, she thinks about killing herself. Yet, with indomitable courage and a clarity of mind well beyond her years, Zlata preserves what she can of her former existence, continuing to study piano, to find books to read, to celebrate special occasions - recording it all in the pages of this extraordinary diary.

Feelings:
Zlata starts keeping a diary before the war breaks out in Bosnia. When she starts her diary we see that she is a normal young girl who thinks about school, her friends, and popular culture. when the conflict starts in a near by city she does not think it will come to Sarajevo. Over the two years that Zlata kept her diary we see the changes that come over her city and her family.

I am using this book with a student who is learning English. I have found so far that the level of the writing is such that it is easy to understand and we are able to have conversations about the book and what is happening. Reading about this reminded me of hearing about the conflict when I was growing up. This book made it real for me when it hadn't been before.

I highly recommend this book. It is easy to read and Zlata is strong even when things are falling apart around her.