A young survivor of the Bosnian War returns to his homeland to confront the people who betrayed his family. The story behind the YA novel World in Between: Based on a True Refugee Story.

At age eleven, Kenan Trebincevic was a happy, karate-loving kid living with his family in the quiet Eastern European town of Brcko. Then, in the spring of 1992, war broke out and his friends, neighbors and teammates all turned on him. Pero - Kenan's beloved karate coach - showed up at his door with an AK-47 - screaming: "You have one hour to leave or be killed!" Kenan’s only crime: he was Muslim. This poignant, searing memoir chronicles Kenan’s miraculous escape from the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign that swept the former Yugoslavia. After two decades in the United States, Kenan honors his father’s wish to visit their homeland, making a list of what he wants to do there. Kenan decides to confront the former next door neighbor who stole from his mother, see the concentration camp where his Dad and brother were imprisoned and stand on the grave of his first betrayer to make sure he’s really dead. Back in the land of his birth, Kenan finds something more powerful—and shocking—than revenge.
Kenan Trebincevic was born in Brcko in 1980 to a Bosnian Muslim family exiled in the Balkan War. He came to the Unitred States in 1993, and became an American citizen in 2001. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, and The Best American Travel Writing 2012, and on American Public Media radio and NPR. He lives in Astoria, Queens, and works as a physical therapist. His website is www.kenantrebincevic.com. View titles by Kenan Trebincevic
© Dan Brownstein
Susan Shapiro, an award-winning writing professor, freelances for The New York Times, New York magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Elle,  The New Yorker and Oprah magazines online. She’s the bestselling author or co-author of 14 books her family hates, including Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Lighting Up, Unhooked, The Bosnia List, and the inspiring writing guide The Byline Bible. She and her husband, a scriptwriter, live in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her popular “instant gratification takes too long” classes at The New School,  NYU, Columbia University and in private online workshops and seminars. View titles by Susan Shapiro

About

A young survivor of the Bosnian War returns to his homeland to confront the people who betrayed his family. The story behind the YA novel World in Between: Based on a True Refugee Story.

At age eleven, Kenan Trebincevic was a happy, karate-loving kid living with his family in the quiet Eastern European town of Brcko. Then, in the spring of 1992, war broke out and his friends, neighbors and teammates all turned on him. Pero - Kenan's beloved karate coach - showed up at his door with an AK-47 - screaming: "You have one hour to leave or be killed!" Kenan’s only crime: he was Muslim. This poignant, searing memoir chronicles Kenan’s miraculous escape from the brutal ethnic cleansing campaign that swept the former Yugoslavia. After two decades in the United States, Kenan honors his father’s wish to visit their homeland, making a list of what he wants to do there. Kenan decides to confront the former next door neighbor who stole from his mother, see the concentration camp where his Dad and brother were imprisoned and stand on the grave of his first betrayer to make sure he’s really dead. Back in the land of his birth, Kenan finds something more powerful—and shocking—than revenge.

Author

Kenan Trebincevic was born in Brcko in 1980 to a Bosnian Muslim family exiled in the Balkan War. He came to the Unitred States in 1993, and became an American citizen in 2001. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, Salon, and The Best American Travel Writing 2012, and on American Public Media radio and NPR. He lives in Astoria, Queens, and works as a physical therapist. His website is www.kenantrebincevic.com. View titles by Kenan Trebincevic
© Dan Brownstein
Susan Shapiro, an award-winning writing professor, freelances for The New York Times, New York magazine, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Elle,  The New Yorker and Oprah magazines online. She’s the bestselling author or co-author of 14 books her family hates, including Five Men Who Broke My Heart, Lighting Up, Unhooked, The Bosnia List, and the inspiring writing guide The Byline Bible. She and her husband, a scriptwriter, live in Greenwich Village, where she teaches her popular “instant gratification takes too long” classes at The New School,  NYU, Columbia University and in private online workshops and seminars. View titles by Susan Shapiro

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