Special Sub-Topic: Zlata's Diary Click Here To Play: Zlata's Diary

Zlata begins her diary on September 2, 1991. How old was she at the time?

She was ten years old. Zlata's birthday was December 3rd, and she turned eleven years old in 1991.

Zlata lives with her parents in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Does she have any siblings?

No. Zlata was the only child of Malik and Alica Filipovic.

Zlata plays a musical instrument and sings. Which musical instrument does Zlata play?

Piano. Zlata had been taking piano lessons ever since she was very little. But, after the war began, she couldn't practice as often as the family piano was located in a "dangerous" room (it was open to shooting).

Before the war reached Sarajevo, what American singer's fan club did Zlata excitedly say she was going to try to join?

Madonna's. "I just had a crazy idea. I'm going to try to join Madonna's Fan Club. I really am crazy!"--Wednesday, December 4, 1991.

For the first few months after starting her journal, Zlata writes about her friends, her family and school. In March (1991) she notes that things are "heating up" in Sarajevo, though most of the action is taking place in Dubrovnick. Also around this time, Zlata begins to refer to her diary by a name. What did Zlata call her diary?

Mimmy. In her March 30 (1992) entry, Zlata decided that, since Anne Frank gave her diary a name, she would follow suit and give her diary a name, too. Though she thought of Asfaltina, Pidzameta, Sefika, Hikmeta, and Sevala, she quickly settled on "Mimmy", the name of her dead goldfish.

A question about the war: Three ethnic groups were fighting for power in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Which of these is NOT one?

Aryans. The war erupted after Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia, as the Serbs wanted to remain a part of Yugoslavia and the Croats and Muslims wanted independence.

Soon it becomes evident that a full-fledged war is blowing their way, and Zlata records every incident. Soon troops move into Sarajevo, and shooting starts, making it dangerous to leave the house. Afraid, Zlata does something for good luck. What is this good luck action Zlata does?

She knocks on wood. Zlata does this twice in her journal: on April 6th, 1992 and then again on September 19, the same year. Whether or not it actually brought her good luck, I am not going to say.

In order to escape the danger of being hit by a stray bullet, when the shelling gets too dense Zlata and her family move into their cellar. What did Zlata think of their cellar?

She thought it was ugly, dark and smelly. Though Zlata intensely disliked staying in the cellar (and her mother - terrified of mice - wasn't too fond of it either), she and her parents would move directly down there whenever extreme shooting began. Eventually, they started staying in their neighbors, the Bobars' cellar, as it was "safer". Sometimes they would spend entire nights in the cellar, as the shooting kept up that long.

Zlata has a beloved pet, named Cicko. What is Cicko?

Canary. Zlata had Cicko for seven years, and she and her family went to extreme measures to keep Cicko alive and safe during the war, though, in the end, Cicko died. Zlata wrote of her canary's death on April 9, 1993, not saying how, just that it "happened suddenly".

Zlata had many girlfriends in Sarajevo. But after the war started, most of them moved away to avoid the danger. One of her closest friends was killed when "a piece of shrapnel lodged in her brain and she died". What was this dear departed friend's name?

Nina. In her May 7 (1992) entry, Zlata writes how a shell fell in the nearby park where she use to play and at least five people were hurt, and her friend, Nina, was killed.

In July (1992), Nedo (the Filipovic's young refugee friend/neighbor) was followed home by a lost kitten. Cici (as the cat came to be called) soon became Zlata's adored and spoiled pet. Which best describe's Cici?

Orange, with a white belly and white feet. Zlata described how Cici (whom she considered calling, besides Cici: Skinny, Lanky, Kitty, Minkana, or Persa) came into the lives of her and her family on July 11, 1993. A year later, on August 10 (1993), she described how Cici died (she was pregnant and something went wrong).

With the war going on, supplies of nearly anything were hard to get. Zlata soon became accustomed to eating plain food, but it was when the house utilities were cut off that she had problems. Which of these was NOT cut off in Zlata's house at one time or another?

Telephone. Eventually, Zlata would rejoice when the electricity/gas/water was up and working, and would despair when it was cut off again. A wood stove was used for heat and cooking, and Zlata came to read (and write) by candlelight. When the water was cut off, Zlata and her parents would go to a supply in town and carry the precious liquid back home in containers.

Zlata, too young to understand (or be told) the reasons for the civil war, blamed what she called "politics" for destroying her beloved city, aging her parents and making her friends move away (or worse). Often she would lament and curse the foolishness and immaturity of the people she could not name who were responsible for the war. What did Zlata almost always refer to politicians as?

"Kids". Many, many of Zlata's journal entries were devoted to her naive musings (or verbal attacks) on the war and the idiotic reasons behind it. A couple of times, in her despair, Zlata considered taking her own life just to be rid of the war and its miseries.

True or false: None of Zlata's diary was published until she wrote the very last entry.

False. After a teacher learned of Zlata's war diary, it wasn't long before Zlata was excitedly writing about how segments of it were going to be (and then being) published. Soon Zlata became somewhat of a celebrity, the Anne Frank of Sarajevo. Reporters and camramen (some of whom Zlata would speak of very kindly in her diary) would visit her and her family in Sarajevo.

In 1993, just before Christmas, Zlata and her family were allowed to leave Sarajevo. What city did they flee to?

Paris. Zlata's last entry in her diary was on October 17, 1993. However (if your version of the book is like mine), on the back cover flap of the book you can read that Zlata "and her parents were allowed to leave Sarajevo just before Christmas, 1993" and that they are "temporarily living in Paris".