My Childhood Under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary - Softcover

Halilbegovich, Nadja

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1554532671 ISBN 13: 9781554532674

Publisher: Kids Can Press, 2008

Synopsis

?Bombs are exploding all over the city. I hide my feelings from everyone, but I am drowning in despair. When will this war end? For how long will my life consist of the dead space between two explosions?? --- June 6, 1995

On the first day of the siege of Sarajevo, 12-year-old Nadja Halilbegovich's life changed forever. In the face of constant tank and sniper fire, daily life in this beautiful, mountain-ringed city was suddenly full of fear. Without reliable electricity, water or medical supplies, the blockaded city ground to a halt. Nadja and her fellow citizens tried desperately to live normal lives while forced to scrounge for even the most basic necessities.

My Childhood Under Fire is Nadja's diary of the years 1992-95. It is her personal account of becoming a teenager during wartime. It is also a monument to the thousands killed during the siege of Sarajevo and to the millions of children around the world who still live --- and die --- under fire.

About this title

About the Author:

Nadja Halilbegovich is a survivor of the war in Bosnia. She was twelve when the war began and throughout the war she wrote her diary. At the age of 14, she published her diary in the war-torn city of Sarajevo and became known as the Bosnian Anne Frank. She was wounded by a bombshell and still carries seven pieces of shrapnel in her legs. She escaped the war at the age of 16 and finished high school and university in the United States. She became an active public speaker for peace and tolerance.
In 2006, she published a book entitled My Childhood Under Fire in the U.S. and Canada. Her book has been awarded the ?2006 Best Book Award? under Social Studies by the Society of School Librarians International as well as nominated for the Norma Fleck Award and the Golden Oak Award. A French translation has been released in 2007.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 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
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About this edition

• Publisher: Kids Can Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1554532671
• ISBN 13: 9781554532674
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 120