Review: "Zlata's Diary" by Zlata Filopovic

From Goodreads:  When Zlata's Diary was first published at the height of the Bosnian conflict, it became an international bestseller and was compared to The Diary of Anne Frank, both for the freshness of its voice and the grimness of the world it describes. It begins as the day-today record of the life of a typical eleven-year-old girl, preoccupied by piano lessons and birthday parties. But as war engulfs Sarajevo, Zlata Filipovi´c becomes a witness to food shortages and the deaths of friends and learns to wait out bombardments in a neighbor's cellar. Yet throughout she remains courageous and observant. The result is a book that has the power to move and instruct readers a world away.

My Thoughts:  I remember when this book came out and how popular it was but for some reason, I never got around to reading it.  Upon finishing it, I am glad that I read this book as an adult when I can appreciate the maturity of this young girl.  I was completely blown away by this book.  Zlata begins writing this diary when she is 11 and it starts out as your average child's diary.  When war comes to Sarajevo, she makes the decision to record what is going on in her life as a result of the war.  It was amazing to see how the war affected this young girl's life and the times when she raged against the war and how it was stealing her childhood, I just wanted to hug her.  She writes about how people compared to Anne Frank and how scary that was because she did not want to share Anne's fate.  She writes "That's why I have to try to get through all this, with your support, Mimmy (her diary), and to hope that it will pass and that I will not suffer the fate of Anne Frank.  That I will be a child again, living my childhood in peace" (pg. 193).  This quote completely broke my heart; this poor girl was wise beyond her years and I just can't believe how maturely she dealt with what was going on in her country.  It is strange to think of what I was doing between 1991-1993 and how completely different that was than what Zlata was going through.  I can't say enough good things and I highly recommend this book! 4 1/2 stars.