One Boy from Kosovo

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

Edi's life in a Macedonia refuge camp is chronicled from interviews and photographs taken during the two months he and his family lived in Brazda in 1999. The opening pages present a detailed but somewhat confusing summary of the history of Kosovo, Serbia and Albania. As the book moves into Edi's story it becomes more engaging but still lacks the poignancy one expects in a story about refugees. Edi is a twelve-year-old boy from Kosovo who fled with his family and successfully reached Macedonia without harm. We learn how he lived, slept, ate, and experienced boredom and sadness because he was constantly losing friends from the camp. Photographs of families sleeping in tents and of grieving children add feeling to the narrative. The book does not do full justice to a tragic situation that is still fresh in the minds of the world. What might otherwise be a compelling family story falls a little flat in the telling. 2000, Harper Collins, Ages 7 to 11, $15.95 and $15.89. Reviewer: Elaine Wick

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Marx and Karp document the life of ethnic Albanian Edi Fejzullahu, 12, and his family as they resided in a refugee camp in Macedonia. A brief introduction gives some background on the conflict in Kosovo, but includes erroneous statements such as, "Shortly before hostilities broke out, the new Yugoslavia had joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-." Then readers are introduced to Edi and given a cursory view of his happy pre-refugee life. They learn that he went to school with Serbian children, but not how he was treated by them or what language they spoke. The remainder of the book focuses on the family's flight from their home in Gnjilane and details their stay in Brazda. The pluck and positive attitudes of the family are emphasized as they endured the monotony of life and chores while worrying about the fate of their relatives. Although the writing is clear, the narrative lacks immediacy. The full-color photos are sharp and often show the joy that a family can find even under dire circumstances, and this is important. However, the grim side of refugee life has to be surmised mainly from a few sad and stoic-looking faces. There is no sense of the spring mud or the summer dust and all of the photos are shot under sunny, blue skies. Nonetheless, the author and photographer are to be commended for bringing the topic to the attention of middle school students.-Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|