IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq

Overview

I forgot what peace looks like. What the street looks like. What the sky in the night look like. What my relatives look like. Sometimes I just think that if you could see what my eyes see, if you could hear what my ears hear, you would be able to understand what I mean.
These are the words of IraqiGirl, a teenage girl blogging from the city of Mosul, Iraq, as the chaos and violence of military occupation unfold in the aftermath of the American invasion. In a narrative charged with anger, IraqiGirl wants her readers to understand what life is really like under military occupation. "Let's go back," she writes, "to my un-normal life." And here IraqiGirl allows us to discover a story the Western media rarely allow us a glimpse of: the story of how the Iraq War has shattered lives and broken hearts. But we also discover, in her personal reflections on family, friendship, and community, the resilience of one girl to not only survive, but to discover, amidst the devastation of war, a future worth living for.
As she writes: "For the sake of the smile that was given to no one but me, for the sake of my grandpa and for the sake of my country and for the sake of my religion and for the sake of my God . . . I want to know my destination."
IraqiGirl was fifteen years old when she began blogging from her home city of Mosul, Iraq, in July 2004. The book follows her story through 2007. Presently IraqiGirl attends college and continues to struggle for a better future. The address for her blog is http://iraqigirl.blogspot.com.

Editorial Reviews

In 2004 in Mosul (the third largest city in Iraq), a 15-year-old girl started a blog detailing her life in the midst of the Iraq War. Her journal encompasses the day-to-day trauma the American invasion has caused her city, her family and friends. "Today is like every day in Iraq. No electricity, no fun, and no peace," writes Hadiya (all Iraqi names in the book are pseudonyms). Her struggle against helplessness is agonizing, though her view modulates somewhat over time (her blog is still active, but the book covers her writings only through 2007). "I sense that my country is still beautiful in spite of everything that has happened to it," she says during a hopeful moment. Poems and photographs accompany her thoughts on her academic struggles, Islam and growing up in a war zone; comments from her blog are interspersed, and Hadiya responds to others in several entries ("Another anonymous said, 'You certainly don't deserve this life.' I want to ask you something-is this really a life?"). Hadiya's authentically teenage voice, emotional struggles and concerns make her story all the more resonant. Ages 12-up. (July)
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Author Information

Bio of IraqiGirl

No bio available for IraqiGirl.

Bio of Elizabeth Wrigley-Field

No bio available for Elizabeth Wrigley-Field.

Bio of Michelle M. Welch

Michelle M. Welch has a BA in English Literature and an MA in Library Science, which she uses in her day job as a reference librarian at Chandler Public Library. Michelle has also studied music and played with symphony orchestras, traditional Irish musicians, and Renaissance music groups. Her previous two novels, Confidence Game and The Bright and The Dark were published by Bantam Spectra in October 2003 and August 2004, respectively.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Haymarket Books

Filesize

1.65 MB

Number of Pages

100

eBook ISBN

9781608460809