Review of: Zlata’s Diary by Zlata Filipović

When 11 year old Zlata Filipović, of Sarajevo, starts her diary in September of 1991, she has no idea how horribly her life is going to change.  One day when she came home from school she heard that her father had been called up by the police reserves, the first sign of the unrest to come.

War starts in Dubrovnik and Zlata’s parents are worried that it will come to their city.  In March 1992, a small gang of armed civilians murder a Serbian wedding guest and injure the priest, bringing the war closer to them.  One day while Zlata was doing her homework, she hears gunfire getting closer.  She is afraid that the war will mean that all the schools will be closed.  People start leaving Sarajevo as the heavy shelling and gunfire increases.  They are afraid for their lives, as is Zlata, who spends lots of her time in the cellar.  Throughout the city the electricity, water and gas are all turned off and people start receiving UN food packages.

Zlata pours her hopes and fears into her diary as gunfire rings throughout the city. Will her sad days ever end?

I liked reading this book because the way Zlata wrote about the war seemed as if she was an adult, not a twelve year old.

I think children should read this book as it shows you what some people have to try and live through, even in this modern age. I hope I will never have to write the type of diary that Zlata did.