Amra Sabic-El-Rayess was a Bosnian teenager in the city of Bihać in the early 1990s when Bosnians, Serbs, and Croats were at war. This account chronicles the fate of her family and the small calico cat, Maci, which she finds early on in the conflict and becomes a good luck talisman throughout the period of brutal ethnic cleansing and the gradual improvement of their lives. Amra's family, secular Muslims, was spared the worst of the genocide, but knowledge that many men and boys are being killed by Serbs, and of what often happens to women and girls during times of conflict, makes her fear palpable. The war disrupted Amra's pursuit of education, but she sought out every possible opportunity. And war didn't get in the way of falling in love, a young romance she thought would last. Above all, this is the story of family love, however, and their experience through displacement, threat of starvation, a return to home, and efforts to carve out a new means of survival. This account would have benefited from a preface providing an overview of the war for young adult readers today, but that doesn't detract from its impact. An author's note explains how she took creative liberty with her personal timeline as it relates to some events.
(Age 13 and older)

The stunning memoir of a Muslim teen struggling to survive in the midst of the Bosnian genocide-and the stray cat who protected her family through it all.

*Six Starred Reviews*
"Extraordinary." - Booklist | "A must-read." - School Library Journal | "Unforgettable." - Kirkus | "Gripping." - Foreword | "Excellent." - School Library Connection | "As timely as it is effective." - Publishers Weekly

A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
A Capitol Choices Remarkable Book
A Mighty Girl Best Book
A Malala Fund Favorite Book Selection

In 1992, Amra was a teen in Bihac, Bosnia, when her best friend said they couldn't speak anymore. Her friend didn't say why, but Amra knew the reason: Amra was Muslim. It was the first sign her world was changing. Then Muslim refugees from other Bosnian cities started arriving, fleeing Serbian persecution. When the tanks rolled into Bihac, bringing her own city under seige, Amra's happy life in her peaceful city vanished.
But there is light even in the darkest of times, and she discovered that light in the warm, bonfire eyes of a stray cat. The little calico had followed the refugees into the city and lost her own family. At first, Amra doesn't want to bother with a stray; her family doesn't have the money to keep a pet. But with gentle charm this kitty finds her way into everyone's heart, and after a few near miracles when she seems to save the family, how could they turn her away?
Here is the stunning true story of a teen who, even in the brutality of war, never wavered in her determination to obtain an education, maintain friendships, and even find a first love-and the cat who gave comfort, hope, and maybe even served as the family's guardian spirit.