A House Without Walls
Published on 22. August 2019
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-5098-8072-0 (ISBN)
Description
A House Without Walls is a powerful story of family, hope and redemption amidst the refugee crisis in Syria from the award-winning Elizabeth Laird, illustrated by Lucy Eldridge.
Thirteen-year-old Safiya and her family have been driven out of Syria by civil war. Safiya knows how lucky she is - lucky not to be living in a refugee camp, lucky to be alive. But it's hard to feel grateful when she's forced to look after her father and brother rather than go back to school, and now that she's lost her home, she's lonelier than ever.
As they struggle to rebuild their lives, Safiya realizes that her family has always been incomplete and with her own future in the balance, it's time to uncover the secrets that war has kept buried.
Thirteen-year-old Safiya and her family have been driven out of Syria by civil war. Safiya knows how lucky she is - lucky not to be living in a refugee camp, lucky to be alive. But it's hard to feel grateful when she's forced to look after her father and brother rather than go back to school, and now that she's lost her home, she's lonelier than ever.
As they struggle to rebuild their lives, Safiya realizes that her family has always been incomplete and with her own future in the balance, it's time to uncover the secrets that war has kept buried.
Reviews / Votes
[H]umane and empathetic . . . Not only eye-opening, important and topical, but a vivid, emotionally involving, nail-biting read . . .an effective call to action. -- Nicolette Jones, <i>The Sunday Times </i>Book of the Week<i> </i>on <i>Welcome to Nowhere</i> A muscular, moving, thought-provoking book from an award-winning writer -- <i>Guardian </i>on <i>Welcome to Nowhere</i> Not only does it explain how the war in Syria began in as clear a way as I have ever heard but [Elizabeth Laird] makes her characters lovable, loathable - and believable. They are children of war but not defined by it . . . fascinating and sing[s] with truth. -- Alex O'Connell, <i>The Times </i>Book of the Week<i> </i>on <i>Welcome to Nowhere</i> I read this book in one greedy sitting, soaking up the characters I met along the way and really feeling the protagonist of Safiya come alive on the pages before me. Highly recommended * ReadingZone *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Pan Macmillan
Target group
Children/juvenile
Interest Age: From 9 to 11 years
Illustrations
B&W watercolour spreads from Lucy Eldridge
Dimensions
Height: 207 mm
Width: 138 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
398 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5098-8072-0 (9781509880720)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Elizabeth Laird is the multi-award-winning author of several much-loved children's books including The Garbage King, The Fastest Boy in the World and Dindy and the Elephant. She has been shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal six times. She lives in Britain now, but still likes to travel as much as she can. Lucy Eldridge is a traditional artist who works primarily in watercolor and gouache to create beautiful, whimsical illustrations. Lucy illustrated the middle-grade novel Welcome to Nowhere by Elizabeth Laird and her first picture book, If A Horse Had Words, by Kelly Cooper. She is based in Brighton, UK.