The Day of the Pelican [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Katherine Paterson (Author), Tavia Gilbert (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 2009 | Grade Level: 4 and up

Grade Level: 4-6 Age Level: 9-11 Listening Level: Grades 4-6 Meli Lleshi is positive that her drawing of her teacher with his pelican nose is what started it all. The Lleshis are Albanians living in Kosovo, a country trying to fight off Serbian oppressors. Suddenly, they are homeless refugees. As they travel the dangerous roads at night and leave burning farms and houses behind, young and old alike find their courage and resilience constantly tested. It is humiliating to have to live in crowded tent cities with hundreds of other displaced persons. If it weren’t for Mama and Baba’s efforts to keep the family together, who knows what would happen to them? Then one day Baba makes a surprise announcement: they will all soon be going to a country far away. It will be a great adventure, he assures the family. There will be no more running from an enemy, and no turning back to their old way of life. But will they really find freedom at last? Meli wonders.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—The war in Kosovo in the 1990s is brought to life in Katherine Paterson's novel (Clarion, 2009). The story follows Meli Lleshi, a 12-year-old Albanian girl, and her family as they begin to see violence escalating in their small town. The Serbians are the dominant force in the country and, under the leadership of war criminal Slobodan Milosevic, their brutality against the minority groups knows no boundaries. When the Lleshis and their extended family see the handwriting on the wall, they escape just as the violence reaches their doorstep. The trek to safety in Macedonia is a struggle, but they finally arrive at a refugee camp. When NATO effectively ends the war, Meli's family decides to move to America where new struggles and hurdles await them. The story provides insight into the Albanian culture, the war in Kosovo, and what it feels like to be an immigrant in a new land. It also offers a glimpse into the role of women in these cultures. Narrator Tavia Gilbert does a marvelous job of representing the family's accents when necessary but, for the most part, her narration is unaccented. She perfectly voices the emotional struggles of Meli and her family as they attempt to survive. A welcome addition to historical fiction and multicultural collections.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA
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Review

“[A] powerful, finely crafted novel.”—Publishers Weekly

“Paterson exposes the complexities of a war halfway around the globe and how its scars reach across an ocean. Young readers who did not know where Kosovo was before will not forget it after reading the Lleshis's remarkable story.”—Shelf Awareness

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (October 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 144180207X
• ISBN-13: 978-1441802071
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,194,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katherine Paterson has twice won both the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award. She received the 1998 Hans Christian Andersen Medal as well as the 2006 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for the body of her work. An active promoter of reading and literacy, she lives with her husband, John, in Barre, Vermont. They have four children and seven grandchildren. Visit Katherine Paterson on her web site at www.terabithia.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating & Hopeful Immigration Story, October 8, 2009

By 

L. K. Messner "Kate Messner" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Day of the Pelican (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Katherine Paterson's THE DAY OF THE PELICAN lends a human face to the 1998-1999 unrest in the former Yugoslavia. Meli and her family are Albanians persecuted by the Serbs under the reign of Milosevic and forced to flee for their lives, leaving everything they've known except for one another. Their journey is a perilous one with twists, turns, and hardships that will have young readers holding their breath. Even when the family seems to be starting a new life in a safer place, new challenges arise, and Meli and her brother are forced to draw on their courage and strength to make a new home. As I read this book, I couldn't help being reminded of Karen Hesse's brilliant LETTERS FROM RIFKA - historical fiction about another young girl facing persecution in another time and place. The two books would work well paired together in a classroom, as a study of immigration and the factors that bring families from other lands to America. (ARC)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Informative, If Not Stellar, November 2, 2009

By 

Readerly (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Day of the Pelican (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Day of the Pelican is the story of a girl and her family and their struggle to survive the turbulent conflict between the Serbs and Kosovars. Full of historical detail and accuracy, the book provides a rare glimpse into an untold part of our history. As familiar as children are with the atrocities of the Holocaust, they are unfamiliar with those of the Serbian conflict. Therefore, it is a welcome addition to the historical fiction genre.

The story is simple to follow, but I did not find the characters to be well-developed. Perhaps this was intentional on Patterson's part as, without the depth of characters, the devestating events of the growing conflict resonate clearly.

A welcome book and one which should find its place in the classroom!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem of a book that introduces younger readers to the recent genocides that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, September 12, 2009

By 

C. Quinn (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Day of the Pelican (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

This masterful tale of one girl's journey from childhood across a war-torn landscape easily stands with Paterson's body of work. Meli and her family are forced to flee their home- first to the mountains, then to a refugee camp in Macedonia, and finally to a small town in Vermont- in order to survive as Kosovo goes up in flames. Though the harsh realities of war are muted in the narrative, there are veiled references to rape, torture, and genocide that will be picked up by older readers. The strength of this story lies in its focus on what these larger world events mean to one girl already struggling to chart her path into adulthood. When Meli leaves Kosovo, she leaves her childhood behind as well.

I've lived in the region, and believe that Paterson captured the flavor of terror of the time. Not many books have been written that cover the genocides that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia; this wonderful tale will serve as an excellent entry into the time period for teen readers. Highly recommended!