Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis

According to the author's blurb, Deborah Ellis spend some time in Afghan's refugee camps interviewing women for a book of oral histories on the war.  Her encounters with children in those camps gave rise to two young adult novels, Breadwinner and Parvana's Journey.  I didn't realized when I borrowed Parvana's Journey from the library that it was a sequel book, or I would have read Breadwinner first.  However, I found that it didn't really make much of a difference; Parvana's Journey can stand alone as a child's view of war.  The story begins at the funeral of Parvana's father; the war had already separated her from the rest of her family.  She must travel alone to survive, but a young girl traveling alone in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is highly dangerous.  This is another novel that will give students insight into children and war.  They may leave this book with many questions about American involvement in Afghanistan as well as the relationship among groups like the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and Muslims.

Recommended age group, grades 5-8

The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson

Young Meli blames herself for her brother's disappearance despite the fact that ethnic Albanians disappear all the time at the hands of the Serbians.  It's the 1990's in Kosovo, and the Muslim Albanians find themselves as the targets of a campaign of ethnic cleansing.  In this short, but intense novel, the family finds themselves in a refugee camp and eventually as immigrants to Vermont.  Readers will find themselves looking at themes like the effect of hatred and revenge on our lives as well as topics like the Eastern European political situation post-Cold War and how Muslim-Americans fared after the events of 9/11.  A short, but interesting read that will leave many contemporary tweens and teens asking questions about events that took place before they were born.

Recommended age grades 5-8