She holds an mfa in fiction and literary translation from columbia university, and is an assistant professor of creative writing at stockton university, a public liberal arts school in southern. Sara novic is author of the novel girl at war, random house, an american library association award winner thats available in languages. Before graduating from art center college of design in pasadena. But when civil war breaks out across yugoslavia, football games and school lessons are supplanted by sniper fire and air. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading girl at war. Jun 15, 2016 an incredible read and some notes on storytelling as a deaf novelist. Sep 19, 2015 girl at war by sara novic by curlygeek04, september 19, 2015. There are, in fact, several murders and attempted murders in the book, though none is described in that much detail. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Anas life changes in small ways at first, and then her life just changes.
Also, a boy beat up another kid after he raped a girl, a character is scarred after being beaten by. Novics debut novel centers on the civil war in croatia between croats and serbs in the 1990s. Girl at war quotes by sara novic meet your next favorite book. We first meet her protagonist, ana, as an ordinary, happy girl, living with her parents and baby sister i. Sara novic, girl at war their musings about how and why people stayed in a country under such terrible conditions were what i hated most. In sarah novics first novel, girl at war, her protagonist ana juric lives suspended between the living and the dead after witnessing the atrocities of the croatian war of independence. Girl at war tells the story of ana juric, a girl who is just ten when the civil war breaks out in croatia. May 27, 2015 a conversation with sara novic, the young writer behind one of the most powerful books of the year. Girl at war by sara novic fiction released may 12, 2015 338 pages bottom line.
Before they go, she locks her fouryearold brother in a cupboard. It is 1991 and ana is a tenyearold girl living in zagreb croatias capitol when civil war erupts throughout yugoslavia. May 21, 2015 girl at war by sara novic, 9781408706541, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Like much of yugoslavia in the 90s, croatia the novels opening backdrop is a tinderbox, and ana and her family bear witness to the coming flames. May 30, 2015 for that matter, ask ana juric, the narratorprotagonist of sara novics shattering and promising debut novel, girl at war 12 out of four. The first is that of tenyearold sarah starzynski, a jewish girl born in paris, who is arrested with her parents during the vel dhiv roundup. Girl at war depicts the stillfresh nightmare of the yugoslavian civil war, survived by a girl much too young to know all she knows. Apr 18, 2016 the war in zagreb began over a pack of cigarettes. Our book this week is sara novics girl at war, a novel about a young woman whose life was ripped apart by the yugoslav civil war. That recent war provides the backdrop to sara novics powerful debut novel, girl at war. She holds an mfa in fiction and literary translation from columbia university, and is an assistant professor of creative writing at stockton university, a public liberal arts school in southern new jersey.
Sara novic writes with ruthless understatement not only about a modern city subjected to primitive horrors, but about young anas subsequent war against the american urge to forget. In the first of the novels four parts, tomboy ana describes. Sara novi fearlessly shows the impact of war on one young girl and its legacy on all of us. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. May 12, 2015 in sarah novics first novel, girl at war, her protagonist ana juric lives suspended between the living and the dead after witnessing the atrocities of the croatian war of independence. The war in zagreb began over a pack of cigarettes, the 10yearold narrator tells us. You dont need to experience something to remember it, a former child soldier remarks in the final pages of sara novics outstanding first novel. Sara has lived in the states and croatia, and her novel bears witness to the haunting stories of her family and friends who lived through the height of the conflict, and reflects her own attempts to come to terms with. Violence methodically consumes everything that was once good and innocent in her young life, ensnaring 10yearold ana, her mother and father and her.
Sara novic born 1987 is an american writer, translator, and creative writing professor. Girl at war, by sara novic you dont need to experience something to remember it, a former child soldier remarks in the final pages of sara novics outstanding first novel, girl at war. Theres a character in girl at war, a professor who acts as a sort of book angel, lending ana new books each week and guiding her reading. I knew in the end the guilt of one side did not prove the innocence of the other. Moving back and forth through time, girl at war is an honest, generous, brilliantly written novel that illuminates how history shapes the individual. So begins girl at war, sara novics debut novel about ana, the girl of the title. Its anas tenth birthday and, during the family celebration dinner, her godfather has sent her out to the nearby kiosk to buy him cigarettes. The books protagonist, ana, is 10 when the croatian war of independence breaks out and 20 when she. For readers of the tigers wife and all the light we cannot see comes a powerful debut novel about a girls coming of ageand how her. The intense climax point when anas family is stopped by the soldiers is the end of part i of the novel, and part ii shoots forward a decade to show anas new life in america. America is immigrants, new, illustrated nonfiction, is coming in 2019. Understated, selfassured roman a clef of a young girls coming of age in wartorn croatia.
A wrenching new novel relives the disastrous croatian war. The careful structure of girl at war keeps it from becoming just another ordinary, chronological war story. Yoko tanaka made her childrens book debut with theodosia and the serpents of chaos by r. She recently graduated from the mfa program at columbia university, where she studied fiction and translation. Author interview sara novic, author of girl at war bookpage. Novics fictional, but historically accurate work reveals the atrocities of yugoslavias civil war from the perspective of 10year old ana. Sara novic is an assistant professor of creative writing at stockton university and the fiction editor for blunderbuss magazine. But its also a tender, realistic comingofage tale which perfectly captures a myriad of emotions, without ever being overly emotional. Girl at war is a haunting, compelling debut from a brilliant young writer. Novic is most notable for her debut novel, girl at war, which tells the story of ana juric, a tenyearold girl whose life is upended by the civil war that resulted in the dissolution of.
Sara novics debut novel girl at war subtly undoes what most of us, who havent actually survived a conflict, thought we knew about war. Sara novics girl at war girl at war amber galloway gallego ht. What happened to that girl, and how it haunts the woman she grows up to be, is the premise of girl at war, the remarkable debut novel by sara novic 14soa. Novics debut novel chronicles ten yearold ana jurics experience growing up in the early 1990s in war ravaged croatia and her struggle to come to terms with her past a decade later in new york city. She is the fiction editor at blunderbuss magazine, and teaches writing at the fashion institute of technology. A novel about a girls coming of ageand how her sense of family, friendship, love, and belonging is profoundly shaped by the war that broke out across yugoslavia in. Sara novic on how she wrote girl at war the author tells the story behind the story of her debut novel about the serbocroatian war. America is immigrants, new, illustrated nonfiction, is. Sara pennypacker is the author of the acclaimed clementine series, illustrated by marla frazee. Jul 16, 2015 girl at war by sara novic fiction released may 12, 2015 338 pages bottom line. Stuarts cape and stuart goes to school, both illustrated by martin matje. In this promising debut, novic tells the story of 10yearold ana, for whom the war in zagreb began over a pack of cigarettes.
Novic is also a deaf rights activist who has written about the challenges she has faced as a deaf novelist. The united nations estimates that 3,000 to 4,000 child soldiers some as young as 10 took part in the fighting, most of them in bosnia and croatia, though other sources put the numbers at more like 10,000. An incredible read and some notes on storytelling as a deaf novelist. Girl at war is an extraordinarily poised and potent debut novel, a story about grief and exile, memory and identity, and the redemptive power of love.
Girl at war by sara novic, 9781408706541, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Aug 19, 2015 girl at war by sara novic 320 pages whats it about. Ana juric is a carefree tenyearold, living with her family in a small apartment in croatias capital. The civil war that led to the breakup of yugoslavia consisted of a number of separate but related ethnic conflicts spanning the period 1991 to 2001. For that matter, ask ana juric, the narratorprotagonist of sara novics shattering and promising debut novel, girl at war 12 out of four.
Sara has lived in the states and croatia, and her novel recounts some of the haunting stories of her family and friends who lived through the height of the conflict, and reflects her own attempts to come to terms with her relationship to croatia and its history. This clumsy debut novel never for a moment convinces in its setting, characters or conflict, says eileen battersby. Sparrow girl by sara pennypacker, yoko tanaka, hardcover. A conversation with sara novic, the young writer behind one of the most powerful books of the year. Shes describing how the memory of the yugoslav civil war will. Sara novic writes with ruthless understatement not only about a modern city subjected to primitive horrors, but about young anas subsequent war against the. Girl at war is a haunting, compelling debut from a brilliant young writer, rooted in historical fact and personal experience. Girl at war relives the disastrous croatian war vanity fair.
Novic is most notable for her debut novel, girl at war, which tells the story of ana juric, a tenyearold girl whose life is upended by the civil war that resulted in. She holds an mfa in fiction and literary translation from columbia university, and is an assistant professor of creative writing at stockton university. May 12, 2015 throughout, girl at war performs the miracle of making the stories of broken lives in a distant country feel as large and universal as myth. It took her parents from her, and briefly turned her into a child soldier, before she was able to escape to philadelphia, where she did her best to put the past in the past and live as an american. Sara novics debut novel, girl at war, zeroes in on the croatian war of independence, which lasted from 1991 to 1995. Parents need to know the good girls is the second book in a series by sara shepard pretty little liars is about a group of very different girls suspected of committing murder. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading girl at.
What i appreciated most about this book was its readability, and how real it felt. Tenyearold ana juric is a carefree tomboy who runs the streets of croatias capital with her best friend, luka, takes care of her baby sister, rahela. Sara novic, girl at war it was as if it never occurred to anyone that blocking the incoming roads was the same as blocking the escape routes. Author interview sara novic, author of girl at war. For readers of the tigers wife and all the light we cannot see comes a powerful debut novel about a girls coming of ageand how her sense of family, friendship, love, and belonging is profoundly shaped by war.
Longlisted for the baileys womens prize for fiction 2016growing up in zagreb in the summer of 1991, 10yearold ana juric is a carefree tomboy. In girl at war, sara novics beautiful writing really brings to life a country torn by conflict. And, it was named one girl at war by sara novic the guide. May 12, 2015 sara novic was born in 1987 and has lived in the united states and croatia. Sara novic fearlessly shows the impact of war on one young girland its legacy on all of us. Raised in the company of the lively anne of green gables, the brave pevensie children of narnia, and the wise austen heroines, she discovered reading early on as a daily gift, a. Girl at war is a superb exploration of conflict and its aftermath. If so, you may be on your way to being a book girl.
Novic says he was inspired by a professor she had at emerson as an undergrad, whose office. Two main parallel plots are followed through the book. Sara has lived in the states and croatia, and her novel recounts some of the haunting stories of her family and friends who lived through the height of the conflict, and reflects her own attempts. Novic says he was inspired by a professor she had at emerson as an undergrad, whose office was similarly crammed with piledup books. Girl at war by sara novic meet your next favorite book.
676 706 1426 151 878 759 1232 162 641 713 169 1402 1335 1307 841 464 69 402 94 871 1066 361 328 543 123 1273 623 870 4 1447 495 932 1089 712 1037 1436 936 1187 1035 163 1025 260 607 431 1470 534 667