Fourteen-year old Adem, an Albanian boy, lives in Serb-occupied Kosovo. Adem hates existing in a constant state of terror. Every week, friends and family are beaten, teargassed, and killed. The Albanians are helpless, and even passive resistance can get you killed--as is Adem's sister Fatmira, gunned down while reading a protest poem. Now Adem must decide how to survive this never-ending nightmare--with or without his family. Mead's novel includes a brief history of the events leading to the Kosovo Conflict, a map of the region surrounding Kosovo, and a pronunciation guide. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Set in 1993, Mead's (Junebug) timely novel examines the plight of the ethnic Albanians of the former Yugoslavian province of Kovoso, now occupied by Serb forces. Adem has witnessed the tyranny of Serb troops for over four years, and has been taught to "wait for things to get better and try to live life as normally as possible." But after his sister is killed during a peaceful demonstration and Serbian soldiers take over his grandmother's store, the 12-year-old is enraged by his elders' passivity. In an act of defiance, Adem breaks their rule of remaining inconspicuous and walks down a road alone. This apparently simple action puts him and his family in grave danger. Only after he is aided by a Gypsy with neutral views does Adem realize that his dreams and those of his enemies are remarkably similar. Blame for corruption is not necessarily placed on Serbs, but more generally on the desperation to survive and gain power. While graphic depictions of violence invite sympathy for the Albanians, the message of this riveting novel carries a wider meaning. Ages 10-up. (Oct.) From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 5-8-The author of Junebug (Farrar, 1995) leaves the drug-infested projects for an even more harrowing setting: Kosovo, Yugoslavia. Fourteen-year-old Adem, an Albanian, tries to survive despite the day-to-day random violence and cruelty of the Serbians. American youngsters may have trouble imagining a school without chairs, books, or heat. They will have trouble visualizing that school's annual first day tradition: tear gas and beating up the principal. In this republic, Albanian children are not allowed to play organized sports. Personal freedom is an even more valuable commodity than nonexistent gasoline. When Adem's beloved older sister attempts to make a stand, she is cut down by Serbian bullets, and Adem is consumed by secret guilt that he might have prevented her death. His home life spirals down quickly as his family is crushed by the opposition. After Adem is mutilated by Serbian soldiers, he escapes, aided by a Serb and a gypsy, who is killed during the flight. Mead preps readers with a quick, efficient sketch of Yugoslavia's recent history before jumping into this disturbing society. She is not taking a political stance. She passionately defends children caught in cultural crossfire. One inconsistency is puzzling. Twice Adem mentions that Fatmira had spoken out and read her peace poem, but the text states that she was shot while waiting to read it. Setting that quibble aside, this book takes a distant and brutal conflict and makes it real. Recommend it to fans of Frances Temple and Suzanne Staples.-Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 7^-10. Kosovo, once a part of Yugoslavia, is populated mostly by Albanians like Adem and his family, who have been tortured and imprisoned (with some people being killed) by Serbian soldiers wanting to reclaim the land they owned prior to the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. Albanian young people, like 14-year-old Adem, try to carry on normal lives. They go to school despite enduring tear-gas attacks and being brutalized by their teachers; they play soccer, though they can't use a ball; and they go out in the evenings, knowing the soldiers are watching them closely. But when Adem's sister Fatmira defiantly reads a poem during a demonstration and is machine-gunned to death, the family comes under intense scrutiny, and Adem's father is horribly beaten in front of the rest of the family. Meanwhile, Adem is agonizing over the loss of his sister, knowing that he might have been able to stop her death. Mead writes powerfully and eloquently about Adem's attempt to understand why people mistreat each other. The soldiers camping next door in his grandmother's store "sang songs about killing us and drank a lot of beer to pass the time. They were as bored as I was, but in the opposite way. We were like mirrors through the wall, the reverse of each other." The story is bleak, occasionally grisly, and absolutely eye-opening as Mead details life in a village where they drink Coke, watch MTV, and try to avoid death long enough for their situation to improve. --Susan Dove Lempke From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.