It's no "Anne Frank" (but then could anyone come close??). This is a compilation of Hadiya's blog entries which were meant for public consumption, so there's a certain lack of intimacy and sharing of deep inner thoughts. Her entries start out in a typically girlish teen voice but as the war progresses and she reports on bomb explosions and loss with greater frequency, her tone darkens and her prose becomes more expressive. She broods over the reasons for her existence in a war-torn land, signing off one entry as "Me, Myself, Not I." But as she enters pharmacy college, she rediscovers hope and optimism. Again, it's no Anne Frank, but blogging her experiences in a 21st century war seems appropriate for teen readers wishing to view the U.S. occupation of Iraq through Iraqi eyes. ( )

Interesting perspective. Greatly appreciate the opportunity to read it. ( )

This is a heart-wrenching diary of blog posts that invites any reader into the real life of this sixteen year old girl. She is like any ordinary girl: stressing about exams, talking about friendships and siblings, and searching for who she is. Unlike the ordinary girl, it is also learned that sometimes she has to drink dirty water, or a bomb exploded 10 feet from her house. She not only talks about her dreams as a teenage girl, but her fears and hopes of the war ending. ( )

IraqiGirl is a compilation of blog posts written by an anonymous girl blogging her way through the Iraq War. She shares in her posts the horrors of the war and talks about her life as a teenager in Iraq. She speaks of the typical struggles of any teenager--worrying about exams, friendships, sibling rivalry, figuring out who she is-- but then within the next sentence she will relay an experience about drinking dirty water, a car bomb exploding near her house or the electricity only being on for four hours and you remember that this is not your typical coming of age story. Her voice is typical of that of any sixteen year old and her fears, hopes and dreams are heartbreaking and raw.

I very much enjoy memoirs and diaries as I enjoy learning about people. The thing I love about this book is that she was just writing for her own blog so there is an authentic and honest account of her life. It was not written with any other intention other than to share her life, hopes and dreams with whomever was to read it. She was not paid to write this beforehand so it is real and does not contain nicely packaged life lessons.

Her story made my heart break. When she started this blog in 2004, I was going into my freshman year in college. I followed the happenings going on in Iraq and I felt compassionately for the innocent people who were in the middle of this war but will admit I really didn't think too much of it. There were two countries engaged in this war and yet I never felt any of the effects of it as this young girl did. The war was real to her everyday. The war was only real to me when I saw a report on the television or heard of someone whose loved ones were in Iraq and even then it wasn't the type of reality as waking up in the middle of the night to warplanes or mortars exploding. This account of the war--no matter what your feelings were about the war -- will force you to think about those who were caught in the middle of this. I think sometimes it is easy to think of war to be like the scenes of The Patriot or a movie like that where the two opposing forces walk towards each other in a battlefield that is void of any civilians. The fighting is contained to the battlefield. Today's wars are not like this. They are messy and uncontained.

This book was extremely eye-opening and it was interesting to read her story and "watch" her grow. She has alot of followers in the US who have read her blog from the beginning and have been able read about everything unfolding. I would recommend this book to anybody with an interest in learning about people from other cultures, the Iraq War or people who enjoy a good diary. The only things that kept this rating at 3.5 stars were the fact that it WAS a bunch of blog posts so at some points it was very scattered, random and mundane. Overall, it was very insightful and well worth the read. I finished it all in one day. I think it would be interesting for teachers to use in their classroom as there were interesting discussion questions afterward.

This book certainly made me appreciate my freedom and all the things I take forgranted in my daily life.

You can visit her blog at: www.iraqigirl.blogspot.com ( )

IraqiGirl: Diary of a Teenage Girl in Iraq is a collection of blog posts published by a girl who wrote under the pseudonym "Hadiya" from 2004 to 2007.

Reading these entries, it quickly becomes clear to me that, by blogging, Hadiya is risking much more than offending a few of her readers. I realized how very much I take for granted on a daily (if not hourly basis). The ability to write about my thoughts, to count on electricity, to know that I will return home from school, that people around me will not simply disappear, never to be seen or heard from again. This writing is not grandiose, but it is so very eye-opening.

It was clear in reading this that Hadiya is not living a better life since the US entered her country and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. She may have been poor under Saddam, but she is absolutely stifled under American occupation. I don't know if I'm alone in this ignorance, but I feel like this voice is one that I have not yet heard since we entered Iraq in 2003. I know that it was dangerous for her to write on her blog (a freedom that I take for granted every day), but I am so thankful that she has put her voice into the international arena. I feel much more enlightened as to what it would be like to live in a war zone after reading this collection of blog entries.

In addition to the journal-style narratives, Hadiya also writes poetry. She is rather talented in this area. I can see myself using several of these poems in my classroom. But, her writing is not perfect and she admits that she struggles with language. Rather than see this as a put-off, I felt as though her sometimes awkward phrasing felt more authentic than if she had been a polished writer. Without the gleam of figurative language and fancy prose, Hadiya comes across as a real teen. A frustrated, scared teen who is forever changed by a war that is taking place in her front yard. It could not get more real than this.

I am definitely going to put this book on my classroom shelf. Though my students, especially my young freshmen and sophmores, have not grown up with this war on their doorstep, it has been the background noise on their televisions and the stuff of their local news for the majority of their lives. Many of these young teens do not remember a time when they did not hear the word "Iraq" without the word "war." And, some have lost loved ones and will continue to know and love American soldiers who are headed to the Middle East.

Anyone who is even remotely interested in learning more about the Iraq War from an actual Iraqi should read this book. And, it is a must-have for high school (and possibly middle school) libraries and classrooms. I hope to read more nonfiction written by real teens in the future. ( )