by Seemi Aziz, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

Day of the Pelican is by a renowned author, Katherine Paterson, which has the impact of migration is placed front and centre. Patterson’s book focusing on the political and religious conflicts and struggles in the Eastern European regions of Serbia and Kosovo was long over due.

The story revolves around the struggles for survival of a young girl. Meli Lleshi. She is ethnically an Albanian Muslim who is settled in Kosovo. The family of seven, are a Muslim family who stem from rural upbringing and are targeted by Kosovars and Serbians alike because of their background and their alliance to the freedom fighting group of individuals struggling for the rights of the Albanian Kosovars against Serbian oppressors known as the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). Meli and her brother Mehmet share the major role in this story.
Continue reading →