Zlata's Diary (Kyle Grumoli)

Zlata’s Diary, Zlata Filipovic, Penguin Books, 253 pp.

I found this book in the library at Holyoke High School.

Summary: This story is written by an eleven year old girl named Zlata Filipovic, living in Sarajevo. She is writing it in her diary, and the first entry is September 2nd, 1991. She nicknames her diary Mimmy, and speaks about school, her friends, family, and everyday life. However, a civil war erupts in Sarajevo in the spring of 1992, and Zlata is caught in the middle. Her diary shows readers the horrors of a war in Bosnia that saw death, destruction, and ruined lives for many of the victims caught in the tragedy. Zlata and her family lose everything they have during the war. Zlata can’t go to school, her mother cannot go to work, and many of her friends and family have either been murdered or have moved to other parts of the world to escape the war. The people living on Zlata’s street become very close to her. The older people protect the children and try to live out life as normal as they can. They try to erase the war from everyone’s mind, even know it is such a big part of all of their lives. Zlata’s diary ends up being published during the war, and this diary helps her and her family escape Bosnia and leave the horrors of war behind them.

The audience for this novel is teenagers. It is written by someone around the teenage age, and many teenagers would be able to follow what Zlata is going through in her life. This story really helps open readers eyes to the horrors of war.

The author uses very good description in her style of writing. She writes it in her point of view and readers are able to know everything that’s going on. The author also speaks like an eleven year old would, using slang and nicknames in her diary entries.

Monday, May 17, 1993
“Dear Mimmy,
There’s never a dull moment in our house. The mouse is up to its usual tricks. He’s quiet, disappears for days and then begins to scratch at the wall again. Daddy even got hold of some glue. I’m afraid Mommy is going to go crazy,” (pg. 140).

Passages:

Dear Mimmy,
I am a schoolgirl without a school, without the fun and excitement of school. A child without games, without friends, without the sun, without birds, without nature, without fruit, without chocolate or sweets, with just a little powdered milk. In short, a child without a childhood. A wartime child,” (pg. 98).
This passage shows me how hard it was for Zlata during the war. She could not do anything that we do in our everyday life in America. It shows the struggles one must go through in times that are difficult, and teaches me to cherish the things I am able to do in my everyday life in America.
“Dear Mimmy,
I’d write to you about the war if I only could. But I simply don’t want to remember all these horrible things. They make me sick,” (pg.38).
This quote really showed me the toll the war was having on Zlata. She was only an eleven year girl when all of these horrible things were happening to her and her family. It showed me she had seen some horrible things, and even though Zlata may not want to remember any of these things, they are going to follow her for the rest of her life. It made me feel horrible her life would also be defined by the war in Bosnia.

Monday, September 2, 1991
“Dear Mimmy,
Behind me-a long, hot summer and the happy days of summer holidays; ahead of me-a new school year. Im starting fifth grade. I’m looking forward to seeing my friends at school, playing with my friends in the park, and meeting all my new classmates,” (pg.1)
This is the first passage in the novel. I chose it because it related my life to Zlata’s. It showed me she was a normal teenager just like me. It helped me to enjoy the book more knowing that I could relate to the things going on in her life. This quote also helped show me how fast things can be taken away. A few months after she wrote this entrie, her friends were killed or moved away, and her school was shut down. This was one of only a few peaceful times in the entire journal, another reason why it stood out so much.

Relationship: Although I have never lived in a place where a war has been going on outside my door, I have lived during the time of a war. There are many teenagers in Iraq that are living the same way Zlata had to during the Bosnian War. I can also relate to Zlata because she is a teenage girl. She likes to hang out with friends, eat pizza, and goes to school every day. When all these things are taken away from her due to another man’s war, I learn to never take for granted the things I am able to do in my everyday life.