Eleven year old Zlata was just an ordinary girl living in Sarajevo. She loved hanging out with her friends, watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and going skiing in Jahorina. That was all until April 6th, 1992 the beginning of the Bosnian War. I will not pretend to be an expert on the subject, but I will try to give some background of the war. The war was a result of the break up of Yugoslavia. After Croatia and Slovenia seceded in 1991, Bosnia passed a referendum in February, 1992 to secede as well. However, Bosnia's unique demographic make up caused political unrest. Bosnia was around 40% Bosnian Muslim, 30% Orthodox Serbian and 20% Croat Catholic. Though the referendum was recognized internationally it was rejected by representatives of the Bosnian Serbs. Serb forces mobilized in Sarajevo to secure ethnic Serbian territory. This conflict would eventually turn into war that would claim over 100,000 lives. (See here for more information)
The story starts a few months before the war so you can get a feel for what life was like before the war. Zlata writes about her day to day life in her diary which she calls Mimi. There is a shift in her writing from her normal activities when violence in Dubrovnik (the capitol of Croatia) erupts. Her father is sent to the police reserves in October 1991 and goes back on and off for several months. She initially stays positive and is hopeful all the violence will stop soon. It is truly heart breaking to witness her realization that her life is about to change for the worse as the violence moves over to Bosnia.
The transition from peace to war time is very powerful and written with an innocent child like demeanor. That is one of the details that makes this story so powerful. Zlata, although a very smart child does not fully understand why these events are unfolding and how serious it all is. She documents her parents arguing about leaving or staying and doesn't understand why they would even consider leaving. Eventually the war forces her to grow up faster than anyone ever should.
Despite the horrors of the war, Zlata and her family still try to find normalcy and joy in their day to day lives. They still try to celebrate birthdays and holidays to the best of their abilities. Everyone really holds onto happy and positive experiences. An example of this is when Zlata's mother is able to make a loaf of bread despite never doing so before and the electricity being cut off. These experiences give Zlata reason to hope that things will eventually get better and leave the reader enthusiastic to keep on reading.
This book serves as a testimony of the most violent time period in modern Europe. A time that is rarely mentioned anymore and most of the world has forgot about. As I stated earlier I confess I did not have much knowledge of the war before reading this book. I was a very young child when it occurred in the early to mid 90s and only remember hearing about on the news every now and again. The story makes you reflect on your own life and how you would have handled the situation. It humanizes people who are often reduced to statistics or political agendas.
I generally do not like to give perfect scores, but I give this book a perfect 10 out of 10? Why? Well the story may not be perfect, but it accomplishes its goal of educating the reader while keeping them emotionally engaged in the story. I feel after almost 23 years after the Bosnian War has ended this book is just as relevant as it was back then.
Thank you for taking the time to read this review! Have you read this book before? What was your take on it? Please feel free to ask me any questions or book suggestions below!
" Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it." George Santayana
