A PRESENT FOR YANYA

by Peggy & Katica Prusina Mann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 27, 1975

To Yanya, a poor Bosnian child living in Yugoslavia just after World War II, the possibility of buying the seven thousand dinar French doll she sees in a shop window in the market town seems nil. Worse yet, after months of longing for the doll she returns to the market to sell her sick mother's produce and foolishly lets everything go for too little. But when, hoping to appease her mother, she buys her a handmade 50 dinar grater from a mad old man in a cheaper part of town, all the fancy Moslem ladies at the market want to buy it for much more--whereupon Yanya shows a mettle we hadn't seen before, spends the day buying more graters as fast as she can sell them at a huge profit, and ends up home with a reserved grater for her mother, the wonderful doll for herself, and a good market day's purse as well. The foreign setting, vividly remembered from Ms. Prusina's childhood, gives the otherwise inconsiderable story the flavor it badly needs.

Pub Date: Oct. 27, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 120

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1975

Categories: FICTION