The diary of Zlata Filipovic begins with the typical concerns of an eleven-year-old girl: piano lessons and birthday parties, new skis and grades at school. Eight months later, as blasts of gunfire destroy her happy world, Zlata witnesses and records instead the horrors of war: the deaths of friends, food shortages, and days spent seeking refuge from bombs and artillery in a neighbor's cellar. In a voice both innocent and heartbreakingly wise, Zlata tells her remarkable story in this moving and ultimately inspiring account of a childhood destroyed by war.