Book Review: The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson

The Day of the Pelican
by Katherine Paterson
Non-series

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN-10: 0-547-18188-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-18188-2
Publication Date: September, 2010
List Price: $16.00

Review: Imagine being in the center of a war and having to leave your home so you don't get killed! The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson is an extremely heartbreaking story that anybody would love to read. A young girl named Meli Lleshi and her Albanian family is told by her uncle that if they stay in their house they will be killed by Serbians oppressors. They only believe him when Meli's brother is kidnapped by Serb's. Now it is in their hands to get away from the war, but it just keeps following them. This novel is an amazing story because something new happens on every page. Once you get in you won't be able to get out.

When Meli hears the news on the Serbian oppressors from her uncle, she does not want to believe him. But, once her brother is kidnapped, she realizes he is right. Now they are moving to their uncle's house but they change their plans because they are told that the Serbs were already there. They drive to a camp ground far north where the KLA lives hoping to get a good place to live. There they live in the freezing winter in a small crowded tent. They soon learned that Milosevic, the Serbian president, has called back most of his army, so Meli and her family go back to her uncle's house. One day while they are doing their chores Mehmet (Meli's brother) gets news that America is going to bomb the Serb's. This angered the Serbians, and they started burning all the farms they could find, and Meli's family was forced to leave. After escaping to a refugee camp, they decided to leave and head to America! But, the war continued to follow them on 9/11 came! Day of the Pelican is a good lesson to kids on never giving up in life.

This is the first Katherine Paterson book I have read, and it is amazing. The author makes something new happen on every page. This book makes me want to read all the Katherine Paterson books ever published. Day of the Pelican contains strong details to help readers imagine the scene in their head and feel how the characters feel. It is powerfully emotional and finely crafted for any aged readers. The Day of the Pelican is like The Giant Drop, things just keep on going downhill for Meli and her family but eventually things get better, very much like how The Giant Drop must eventually go up. This book gets right to the point from the first page and the events are perfectly described. You will be on the edge of your seat while you read the descriptive novel. The Day of the Pelican has won the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature award. Katherine Paterson is also the author to The Bridge to Terabithia so if you liked that book, you might like this one. Katherine Paterson has done a wonderful job showing the troubles in the war, as well as the depth emotion a war-torn family must feel. You might want to keep a tissue box close at hand when you read.

Review written by Ravi (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing a copy of The Day of the Pelican for this review.

Have you read The Day of the Pelican? How would you rate it?