Annotated Bibliography

This annotated bibliography contains young adult books that take place during modern-day genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, Germany, and Rwanda.

Baillie, Allan. Little Brother. New York: Viking, 1992.

• Vithy and his older brother Mang are caught in the Cambodian conflict with the Khmer Rouge. They flee their village to seek refuge on the Cambodia/Thailand border but are separated along the way. Vithy continues alone in hopes that he will one day be reunited with his brother.

Chotjewitz, David. Daniel, Half-human: And the Good Nazi. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004.

• “Daniel enjoys a privileged life in 1930s Nazi Germany until he finds out he is half-Jewish. Then he must hide this part of himself to survive” (Database of Award-Winning Children’s Literature).

Filipović, Zlata. Zlata’s Diary. London: Penguin Books, 1994.

• This autobiographical narrative is the actual diary of Zlata Filipović. She begins keeping a diary several months before the conflict in Bosnia begins. Her entries evolve from reflections on her favorite television programs to grasping the meaning of the war, death, and deprivation surrounding her.

Hicyilmaz, Gaye. Smiling for Strangers. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

• Nina and her grandfather are her family’s only known survivors of the Bosnian conflict. When militants attack her grandfather, Nina must journey on her own to safety. She has found a letter from her mother’s friend in England, and she does everything necessary to find refuge with him.

Ho, Minfong. The Clay Marble. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1991.

• Dara and her family flee their village during the Cambodian conflict with the Khmer Rouge. They reach the refugee camps in Thailand only to discover they are not out of danger. In the camps, Dara learns a new definition of family and the power she has within herself to survive.

Jansen, Hanna. Over a Thousand Hills I Walk with You. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, 2006.

• Hanna Jansen recounts the experiences of her adopted daughter, Jeanne, during the Rwandan genocide. Jeanne, a Tutsi, is only eight years old when her Hutu neighbors and “friends” go on a murderous rampage against the Tutsis. The book recounts the atrocities Jeanne experiences as well as her miraculous escape.

Orlev, Uri. Run, Boy, Run. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2003.

• “Based on a true story. Srulik has been alone since he was eight years old. During World War II, he lives day to day in Poland's countryside working and repeatedly escaping those who would capture and kill him because he is Jewish” (Database of Award Winning Literature).

Stassen, Jean-Philippe. Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda. New York: First Second, 2006.

• This graphic novel explores the effects of the Rwandan genocide on Deogratias, a young Hutu man. Deogratias clearly suffers from delusions and substance abuse. Stassen uses flashbacks to reveal what led to Deogratias's madness—the horrors he had both seen and committed during the genocide.

UNICEF. I Dream of Peace: Images of War by Children of Former Yugoslavia. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.

• UNICEF collected and published both artwork and poetry created by children affected by the war in the former Yugoslavia. The images and words reflect the terror and desperation these children feel. They use both mediums to cope with and to make sense of the tragedies that surround them.