Elizabeth Laird, Author Puffin Books $6.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-14-036855-0
Set in Iraq, this novel ``weaves compelling facts about the conflict between the Arabs and the Kurds into a gripping tale about one family's escape to freedom,'' said PW in a starred review. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)
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Elizabeth Laird, Author Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers $14.95 (0p) ISBN 978-0-385-29810-0
When Anna's baby brother is born at home, nothing seems right. Then her father explains that the baby is probably handicapped. Anna asks if he'll be able to do all the usual things: play, go to school, talk, laugh. ``He'll be able to laugh,'' the...
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Elizabeth Laird, Author Holt McDougal $12.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-03-006052-6
Abba Aregawi Wolde Gabriel is a priest of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in England who contributed to Laird's enthralling account of St. Tekla Haymanot, a revered hero of his people since the 13th century. Illustrating the book are glorious...
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Elizabeth Laird, Author Henry Holt & Company $0 (32p) ISBN 978-0-8050-0539-4
With unique style and skill, Laird has compiled an Ethiopian nativity based on a composite of ancient texts which recounts the familiar epic of Joseph and the Virgin Mary, Christ's birth and the flight into Egypt. Informative explanations of...
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Elizabeth Laird, Author Dutton Books $15 (288p) ISBN 978-0-525-44893-8
Laird weaves compelling facts about the conflicts between the Arabs and the Kurds into her gripping tale about one family's escape to freedom. After witnessing a teen's brutal murder and meeting a wounded revolutionary, 12-year-old Tara begins to...
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Elizabeth Laird, Houghton Mifflin, $16.99 (432p) ISBN 978-0-547-34126-2
The political and religious turbulence of late 17th-century Scotland provides the setting for the hard, somber story of 16-year-old Maggie Blair, orphaned as a toddler and raised by her angry, impious grandmother on the Isle of Bute. Denounced as a...
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Elizabeth Laird, Author, Anna, Editor . Barron's $14.95 (339p) ISBN 978-0-7641-2626-0
This workmanlike novel clearly portrays the grim options facing street kids in Ethiopia. After the death of his drunken, abusive mother, on the verge of eviction from the home he shares with his sister, Mamo is kidnapped by a man masquerading as his
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Retold by Elizabeth Laird, illus. by Shirin Adl. Frances Lincoln (PGW, dist.), $24.99 (136p) ISBN 978-1-84780-253-8
Laird’s retelling of revered Persian poet Ferdowsi’s 10th-century epic poem (60,000 verses strong, it’s the national epic of Iran) takes the form of haunting scenes with a fiery cast of characters rivaling those of the Greek myths. The short prose...
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Elizabeth Laird, Author, Liz Pichon, Illustrator , illus. by Liz Pichon. Peachtree $15.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-56145-305-4
Beatrice, the heroine of Laird's (When the World Began
) retelling of an African folktale, sets out across the jungle to her grandfather's house, intending to present him with a beautiful bunch of bananas. But a giraffe "flicks his tufty
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Elizabeth Laird, Author, Satomi Ichikawa, Author, Satomi Ichikawa, Illustrator Philomel Books $16.95 (48p) ISBN 978-0-399-21881-1
An attractive compendium of flower lore framed within a simple story, this book by Ichikawa ( Dance, Tanya ) should appeal to practicing gardening enthusiasts and lovers of plants and flowers. During Rosy's summer-long visit to Granny's country...
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Elizabeth Laird, Author, Colin Reeder, Illustrator Tambourine Books $11.95 (1p) ISBN 978-0-688-10239-5
The daily comings and goings on Gosling Farm may not amount to much in the scheme of things but, like veterinarian James Herriot's Yorkshire escapades, therein lies their charm. This pair of gentle stories, the initial offerings in the Little Red...
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Elizabeth Laird, Author, Elizabeth Larid, Author Putnam Publishing Group $14.99 (80p) ISBN 978-0-399-23334-0
The characters and situations in this novella will likely be painfully familiar to teenage readers. On her first day at Dale Road Middle School, narrator Lucy meets Rafaella, a girl who is shunned by the rest of the class (""What you noticed...
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Elizabeth Laird, illus. by Jenny Lucander. Tiny Owl, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-910328-41-5
This monster-under-the-bed tale, based on a story from Rumi’s Masnavi, is an unconventional and refreshing take on conquering fears. Amir’s fear of the titular monster, who “might have huge teeth and growl like a lion,” is maneuvered into a...
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Elizabeth Laird, illus. by Toby Newsome. Tiny Owl, $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-910328-72-9
In Laird’s retelling of an Ethiopian folktale, Gloria, a Black girl in a spotted aqua tunic and pink striped pants, is making porridge when her anthropomorphic brown cat asks for some. After Gloria refuses and heads out to fetch more water, the cat...
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Elizabeth Laird. Macmillan, $18.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-52907-563-2
A decade after the end of WWII, the event’s repercussions still feel alive in Britain, where 13-year-old Charity Brown, who is recovering from polio, contends with whirlwind familial changes. Charity and her older siblings Ted, Faith, and Hope have...
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Elizabeth Laird, illus. by Lucy Eldridge. Macmillan, $8.99 paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-03503-473-4
This far-reaching novel by Laird (The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown) follows one family through the early years of the Syrian civil war, beginning in March 2011. Narrated in an emotionally honest voice by Omar—the middle child of five—the story
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