Girl at War

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Girl at War
336 pages; Random House

Imagine Scout Finch adrift in war-ravaged Croatia, and you've got Ana Jurić, the heroine of Nović's audacious first novel. As the Balkan conflict escalates, the 10-year-old plays amid blackouts and air raids until a tragedy compels her to flee to America. A decade later, she returns to witness her country’s tenuous rebirth and grapple with lingering trauma.

— Hamilton Cain