The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival
By:
Amra was a teen in Bihac, Bosnia, when her friend said they couldn’t speak anymore because Amra was Muslim. Then refugees from other cities started arriving, fleeing Serbian persecution. When Serbian tanks rolled into Bihac, the life she knew disappeared—right as a stray cat followed her home. Her family didn’t have the money to keep a pet, but after the cat seemed to save her brother, how could they turn it away? Saving a life one time could be a coincidence, but then it happened again—and Amra and her family wondered just what this cat was.
This is the story of a teen who, even in the brutality of war, never wavered in her determination to obtain education, maintain friendships, and even find a first love—and the cat that provided comfort, and maybe even served as a guardian spirit, in the darkest of times.
ISBN: 9781547604531
JLG Release: Oct 2020
Sensitive Areas:
Violence: Mild Violence , Violence: Genocide , Discrimination: Religious , Sexual Content: Sexual Harassment
Topics:
Yugoslav War (1991–1995) , Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Ethnic relations , Family life , Cats , Siege of Bihac, 1992–1995 , History of Yugoslavia, 1992–2003 , Islam , Bosnian genocide
Awards & Honors
2021 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
Praise & Reviews
Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:
Horn Book
This suspenseful memoir, set between 1992 and 1998, opens just before the author’s northwestern Bosnian town of Bihać is changed by war. Serbians (who’ve had warning) evacuate overnight, schools and businesses abruptly close, and the town’s remaining Muslim population is under siege by Serbian soldiers. Amidst this turmoil, a stray calico ca This suspenseful memoir, set between 1992 and 1998, opens just before the author’s northwestern Bosnian town of Bihać is changed by war. Serbians (who’ve had warning) evacuate overnight, schools and businesses abruptly close, and the town’s remaining Muslim population is under siege by Serbian soldiers. Amidst this turmoil, a stray calico cat follows sixteen-year-old Amra home. Amra calls the stray Maci, the Bosnian word for cat, and the cat comforts and even, in a sense, protects Amra: for instance, because she chases Maci on the way home from school, Amra avoids a sniper attack. Amra comes to believe the cat is a guardian angel or benevolent spirit. She details her family’s gradual decline as they endure poverty and malnutrition under siege for three years, and her eventual move to the U.S. on an academic scholarship. Though she never shies away from difficult topics such as the threat of rape, feeling forgotten by the international community, or post-war corruption, she always brings the story back to Maci, a metaphor for love that “never dies” and “withstands distance and time.” This fast-paced, touching memoir reminds readers of the significance of the Balkan ethnic war, and places it into a larger conversation about the ways in which ethnically and religiously diverse societies are under threat from extremism and bigotry. An author’s note and resource list encourage further engagement. JULIE HAKIM AZZAM
Book Details
ISBN
9781547604531
First Release
October 2020
Genre
Nonfic
Dewey Classification
B
Trim Size
9" x 6"
Page Count
352
Accelerated Reader
N/AScholastic Reading Counts
N/ALexile
N/AFormat
Print Book
Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Bloomsbury USA
Potentially Sensitive Areas
Violence: Mild Violence , Violence: Genocide , Discrimination: Religious , Sexual Content: Sexual Harassment
Topics
Yugoslav War (1991–1995), Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethnic relations, Family life, Cats, Siege of Bihac, 1992–1995, History of Yugoslavia, 1992–2003, Islam, Bosnian genocide,
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