“The forces of war don’t know anything about love and desire to save something. They just know how to destroy, burn, take things away.”

Zlatas Diary

History In 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia. More than 150,000 residents fled Sarajevo and more than 10,500 residents were killed in the Sarajevo area between 1992 and 1995.

Summary The life of a 13 year old girl during a war. We get an intimate look at her feelings and emotions along with the feelings and emotions of her family. We are taken through hardships and struggles and see what it is like to live in a time of war. Through out the book she looses many loved ones not only to death, but also due to separation by the war.

As she ages from an 11 year old girl to a 13 year old young adult she matures and grows with the wisdom and insight of her parents as her childhood is taken away from her. At the end of the book she is taken to Paris to live a better life.

Background This book was written by Zlata Filipovic when she was between the ages of 11 and 13 years old. The book in itself is a biography of Zlata. She was born on December 3, 1980. We learn many things about her from reading the book. She is now 20 years old.

Major Characters Cici- the cat Cicko- bird Malik-her father Alica- her mother Melica - her father’s sister Bobar Family- next door neighbors Irena- summer school teacher Mirna- Zlata’s best friend Nedo- 27 year old refugee, friend and neighbor

Historical Significance The historical significance of Zlata’s Diary is that there was a war between the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats and Muslims were having a war. The book shows the hardships and emotional struggles that Zlata and other young people went through during that time which wasn’t more than 10 years ago.

The political significance of this book is that many things in the economy were going wrong during the time of the diary. Not having water is economically incorrect. Zlata’s Diary shows that the government was politically corrupt. How could anyone want to kill someone else just because of a disagreement? That is basically what these governments were doing and it was very corrupt.

Setting The story takes place in Sarajevo, the capital city of the Republic of Bosnia and Herezegovina. Since ancient times it has acted as a gateway for the people of Greece and Asia Minor migrating towards the Midwest of Europe. Sarajevo is also situated on the crossroads which runs along the valleys of the Bosnia and Neretva rivers. Sarajevo is 19,741.02 square miles which is slightly smaller than West Virginia.

There are approximately 3,835,777 people living in Bosnia. The major religions are Muslim, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Major languages spoken: Croatian Serbian Bosnian