My son really enjoys Central/Eastern European history.  He has a particular interest in the Yugoslav war in the early 90s.  I remembered reading at the time of a Yugoslavian exchange student at another high school in my town.  I didn’t know him, but the local newspaper covered his story.  When he arrived in town at the start of the school year (1992, I think) his family was safe and there was no fighting in his area.  By the end of the year, his brother had been sent to Switzerland for safety and his parents been separated by the fighting.  They told him not to come home, so he had to scramble to extend his visa and attend college in the U.S.  Thankfully he had some help in securing admittance and financing from a local college.

I was able to find the newspaper clippings online and sent them to my son.  He was really interested in having the perspective of someone affected by the war in such a unique way.