In 1992, when the bombing started in Sarajevo, Halilbegovich, 12, kept a diary of her terrifying daily life under siege. Her terse vignettes replay the horror of her comfortable home torn apart. Thousands of children are killed, and Halilbegovich herself is hit by a shell. Many black-and-white photos show the girl and her family, before and during the war, including a dramatic view of the tunnel through which she finally escaped, eventually ending up with an American family in 1995. Unfortunately, there's no map, and other than occasional brief notes, there's little background about the Balkans war: Who is involved? Why are they bombing her home? Her message for tolerance and against ethnic divisions is powerful, but it raises questions about generic identity that need to be discussed. Even so, the intimate view of ethnic warfare, the appeal for peace, and the haunting question, Why did the world allow it to happen? make the book excellent for the Holocaust curriculum. Connect it to Hanna Jansen's recent novel Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You (2006), about the massacre in Rwanda.

Twelve-year-old Nadja describes living in Sarajevo during the Yugoslav War. Nadja tells of the daily struggles for food, heat, and water and her intense fear and feelings of being deserted by the world. She also adds new details and reflections in "Looking Back" passages. Though she gives little context for the conflict, this is a readable adolescent's experience of war.

Gr 6 Up-Halilbegovich was just 12 years old on April 6, 1992, when she was told there would be no school that day, not because of a holiday, but because of a war. In her diary, she reveals the hurt, pain, and despair brought on by the fighting within her country and describes the bombings, deaths, and destruction. Through journal entries from her childhood, and looking-back sections written as an adult, readers are exposed to the realities of war. During her teen years, she experienced a life she never imagined-loss of friends, neighbors, and security. In 1995, Halilbegovich was granted passage to the United States. She left Sarajevo through a tunnel, with her mother encouraging her as she went, "Remember your dream and keep walking!" These words have stayed with her as she works for peace. This book is similar to Zlata Filipovic's Zlata's Diary (Penguin, 1995), but that book begins and ends with the author's words as a young girl. This is an important book as it reveals the effects of a little-known war on innocent people from a personal perspective.-Denise Moore, O'Gorman Junior High School, Sioux Falls, SD Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Anne Frank reminds all readers that the human spirit can withstand horrific situations. Halilbegovich does the same without shying away from the bouts of depression and anger that she faced as a young girl in Sarajevo during the war in the early 1990s. Using entries from her diary with reflection interspersed throughout, Halilbegovich details the day-to-day struggles, the fear, and her dreams and wishes for peace. The diary entries lend immediacy and a na´vetÚ to the story, while the reflections provide context and fill in the blanks. She focuses on the children who lost their lives, horrified that civilians and children are killed by shells and snipers with little comment from the rest of the world. She includes drawings that were a part of her diary, as well as black-and-white photos that document her life before and during the war. Unfortunately there is little background as to the specifics of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, and the introduction will do little to help young teens place the diary in context. The lack of further reading exacerbates this problem. The diary is interesting for its view of life during war, and the emotions of hope, fear, and despair that occupy the thoughts of a young girl. It has the benefit of reflection that Zlata's Diary (Viking, 1994/VOYA April 1994) does not; however, that book has more depth. Younger teens and 'tweens may find themselves drawn to the shorter format of Halilbegovich's book.-Mary Ann Harlan.