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Tuesday
March 16, 2010 Since 1922 |
Book brings readers realities of war
By JoAn Martin
Baytown Sun Published June 13, 2004 Mead, Alice. “Girl of Kosovo.” New York. A Dell Yearling Book. 2001. 113 pages. Paperback. $4.99. Recommended age: 10 and up. ISBN 0-440-41853-4.
Zana loves her life with her school friends in a small, 20-house village in Kosovo. They have a beautiful view of the woods, valleys and rolling hills with the steep Albanian mountains in the distance.
But Zana’s family is Albanian. For the Albanians who make up 90 percent of the population, it is home. Zana’s best friend, Lena, lives next door, but they dare not be friends as Lena is Serbian.
The Serb police mistreat the Albanians, hoping to drive them out of Kosovo. Their Kosovar leader, Slobodan Milosevic, did not believe Albanians and Serbians could share a future together. Hundreds of villages were attacked by the Serb army, and they drove more than 300,000 unarmed civilians into the woods and hills.
Zana is used to the Serb police stopping them on the roads and in the shops. They search the boys’ backpacks on their way to school.
But everything changs in January 1998 when she was 11. Zana’s father keeps telling her, “Don’t let them fill your heart with hate.” He tells his family to sleep in their clothes, and Zana knows war was coming.
When the Serb forces massacre 54 members of one family, her family tries to run away. But bombs bring terror and tragedy, and Zana is injured. She has to go away for treatment. The doctors and nurses were kind to her, but she had to endure pain and homesickness. She wonders why the world doesn’t come to help them.
Alice Mead became close to one family from the Drenica farming area and gives readers a sense of the sufferings of war. She has put a face on the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. She continues to work with human rights organizations to help all children there.
JoAn Martin reviews children’s books for The Baytown Sun. She is a retired teacher. She may be reached at josbook(at)mindspring.com.
Baytown Sun Published June 13, 2004 Mead, Alice. “Girl of Kosovo.” New York. A Dell Yearling Book. 2001. 113 pages. Paperback. $4.99. Recommended age: 10 and up. ISBN 0-440-41853-4.
Zana loves her life with her school friends in a small, 20-house village in Kosovo. They have a beautiful view of the woods, valleys and rolling hills with the steep Albanian mountains in the distance.
But Zana’s family is Albanian. For the Albanians who make up 90 percent of the population, it is home. Zana’s best friend, Lena, lives next door, but they dare not be friends as Lena is Serbian.
The Serb police mistreat the Albanians, hoping to drive them out of Kosovo. Their Kosovar leader, Slobodan Milosevic, did not believe Albanians and Serbians could share a future together. Hundreds of villages were attacked by the Serb army, and they drove more than 300,000 unarmed civilians into the woods and hills.
Zana is used to the Serb police stopping them on the roads and in the shops. They search the boys’ backpacks on their way to school.
But everything changs in January 1998 when she was 11. Zana’s father keeps telling her, “Don’t let them fill your heart with hate.” He tells his family to sleep in their clothes, and Zana knows war was coming.
When the Serb forces massacre 54 members of one family, her family tries to run away. But bombs bring terror and tragedy, and Zana is injured. She has to go away for treatment. The doctors and nurses were kind to her, but she had to endure pain and homesickness. She wonders why the world doesn’t come to help them.
Alice Mead became close to one family from the Drenica farming area and gives readers a sense of the sufferings of war. She has put a face on the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. She continues to work with human rights organizations to help all children there.
JoAn Martin reviews children’s books for The Baytown Sun. She is a retired teacher. She may be reached at josbook(at)mindspring.com.