In the preface, Filipović writes that her diary has taken on multiple lives since her first entries. In what ways is this also true of Zlata? How do the life of the diary and the life of the diarist parallel one another, and in what ways are they distinct?

Zlata’s Diary has been through many publications and translations. How do the 1994 Introduction, written by reporter Janine di Giovanni, and the adult Filipović’s 2004 Preface change the context of the diary? Does knowing that Zlata survives or hearing of her life after the war detract from the story? How does her adult voice differ from the diary’s voice, and in what ways do they remain the same?

What needs are essential to children? What desires are typical? How does war rob Zlata of her childhood, and what aspects of it remain?