One Boy from Kosovo [Hardcover]

Trish Marx (Author), Cindy Karp (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000 | Age Level: 7 and up

When war drove twelve-year-old Edi and his family from their home in Kosovo, they fled across the Macedonian border to the Brazda refugee camp, a tent city that housed almost thirty thousand people. There the family shared a tent with more than twenty other people, with no kitchen, no running water, and no school for Edi to attend. Instead he helped out with the younger kids, played soccer with the other boys, and ran errands, such as waiting in the long lines for food and fresh water. Everybody was waiting in Brazda -- for news about relatives, for the war to end, for the day when they could finally go home again.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-Marx and Karp document the life of ethnic Albanian Edi Fejzullahu, 12, and his family as they resided in a refugee camp in Macedonia. A brief introduction gives some background on the conflict in Kosovo, but includes erroneous statements such as, "Shortly before hostilities broke out, the new Yugoslavia had joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-." Then readers are introduced to Edi and given a cursory view of his happy pre-refugee life. They learn that he went to school with Serbian children, but not how he was treated by them or what language they spoke. The remainder of the book focuses on the family's flight from their home in Gnjilane and details their stay in Brazda. The pluck and positive attitudes of the family are emphasized as they endured the monotony of life and chores while worrying about the fate of their relatives. Although the writing is clear, the narrative lacks immediacy. The full-color photos are sharp and often show the joy that a family can find even under dire circumstances, and this is important. However, the grim side of refugee life has to be surmised mainly from a few sad and stoic-looking faces. There is no sense of the spring mud or the summer dust and all of the photos are shot under sunny, blue skies. Nonetheless, the author and photographer are to be commended for bringing the topic to the attention of middle school students.
Elizabeth Talbot, University of Illinois, Champaign
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

As ethnic Albanians, twelve-year-old Edi Fejzullahus, his parents, and older brother and sister were driven from their comfortable home in Kosovo by Serbian soldiers. They are sent to a refugee camp in Macedonia. This book is a compassionate pictorial essay of this family's experiences. The text is straightforward, the photographs are eloquent and the book ends with hope as we picture Edi jumping into the arms of his long lost beloved uncle. A 2000 Parents' Choice® Recommended winner.

Reviewed by Kemie Nix, Parents' Choice® 2000 -- From Parents' Choice®

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688177328
• ISBN-13: 978-0688177324
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,736,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write books for kids about things that really interest me. I need to fall in love with my subject, because I'll be spending many hours working on the book. My books usually involve travel - mummies in Peru, Forbidden City in China, Palestinian and Jewish kids in Israel, amazing Edi in a Kosovo refugee camp, alligators in the Everglades, Hanna the hippo in the Budapest Zoo, and the rough cow pasture in Ohio where the Wright Brothers secretly flew their new invention - the flying machine. I have a MA in journalism, and my books are often based on oral histories, interviews, and lots of observation. They have won their share of awards along the way, but I am most honored by the letters and comments I get from the kids who have read them.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars from the Chicago Tribune, June 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: One Boy from Kosovo (Hardcover)

From the Chicago Tribune, May 7, 2000 What's it like to be a refugee child? Trish Marx and Cindy Karp are not interested in a political study but a human one, and so, after brief headnotes about their work and the region's history, the story becomes specific and personal: "This is what happened to one boy from Kosovo in the spring of his twelfth year." We see Edi lining up for water, playing at the children's center, or searching a bulletin board for the names of relatives; w e hear of the friends he misses. More time is spent on camp life than on his family's fears in Kosovo or the hardships of fleeing. Though the book tells a specifie story, the empathy created between Edi and readers suggests a larger, global message: Refugees are not "others" but ourselves.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One boy from Kosovo, December 9, 2003

By 

Kosovar (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Boy from Kosovo (Library Binding)

Ed is a twelve years old boy from Kosova and he is one of the
numbers out of nearly a million Kosovar refugees!
This book is his story!

The author and this book served their purpose but unfortunetaly
the historical facts are so hugely inaccurate.For example :
"...approximately 90 percent of the people living in Kosova
originally came from Albania and only 10 percent came from
Serbia"
"I know" this wasn't the author aim but the above statement is just like Milosevic (The Modern Hitler) would want it.
As a matter of fact, Kosovars and Albanians came from nowhere to where they are now! They've been there when lots of nations didn't have a name let alone something else. It was the Serbs who came from Russia and settled where they are now. Yes, even Serbia is not theirs let alone a part of Kosova as they wish to say.
If it wasn't for U.S.A. and United Kingdom they would have done
the same again as they did centuries ago but hey who falls for the same trick twice???

Ed's story will inspire your children and make them appreciate everything they have in their lives and the first fact that they have everything is that they are Non-Kosovar's to go through all that hell.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, accurate depiction of Kosovar life in a refugee camp - for children, September 19, 2011

By 

a reader in DFW - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Boy from Kosovo (Hardcover)

I cannot recommend, and commend, this book enough. We used it as part of our homeschool social sciences curriculum, but our 10-year old daughter chose the book on her own while browsing through the library. She thoroughly enjoyed the photos and well-written narrative and said she highly recommended it other girls and boys. The personal story of a 12-year old refugee boy and his family is presented in an accurate but still age-appropriate manner; many important aspects of the family's life before and after their refugee experience are presented. Our 10-year old is in 6th grade and has been reading since she was an early 4, and I struggle with the reading level designation as "4-8". Most 8-year olds would enjoy the book being read to them, but I feel would have trouble relating to the story or understanding the refugee issues presented. As a "read alone", I would recommend the book for highly interested 9-year old+ readers and think it is better as an upper middle school resource. TERRIFIC book with a STORY that NEEDED to be written! We'll be looking for more books by this author and photographer team.