By Amra Sabic-El-Rayess and Laura L. Sullivan
New York: Farrar Starus Giroux, 2024. Biography. 346 pages.
In 1980s Bosnia, eleven-year-old Amra loses her beloved older brother to complications from Marfan syndrome. Devastated by the death of her brother, Amra retreats into her own grief until her mother decides to invite Amra's older cousin Zana and her sister to stay. Zana is just what Amra needed -- a cousin like a sister who will show Amra the ins and outs of becoming a teenager. Over the summer, and the two summers that follow, the girls navigate first crushes, boy troubles, heartbreak, and fashion disasters together. But all along, tension is building in the background as political unrest foments in the country. Amra and her family, who are Bosnian Muslims, called Bosniaks, begin to feel the building prejudices against them as anti-Muslim sentiments become widely known.
This insightful memoir will transport readers to summers in Bosnia on the banks of the River Una. Rich sensory details go a long way to fill in the spaces of Amra's memories, and the result is a vibrant story of a carefree summer -- with a looming threat of violence that lurks in the background. Almost like a prequel to Amra Sabic-El-Rayess's YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist memoir, The Cat I Never Named, this book is appropriate for tween readers and just begins to explore the violence and tragedy that Amra experienced during the Bosnian Genocide. This book is just right for tweens with an interest in history, or who feel on the cusp of something big.
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