Authors

Travel has always been in my blood: I was born in New Zealand, but grew up in London. Since then, I’ve lived in many parts of the world, including Ethiopia, Malaysia, Iraq and Lebanon, and my feet just keep on itching! I now flit between London and Edinburgh. I love Edinburgh because of the smell of sea, the lure of the hills, the buzz of the streets, and the ghosts of my ancestors on every corner.


My books include contemporary fiction and historical fiction, as well as shorter novels and picture books for younger children. Some of the stories are set overseas, in Kurdistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon and Pakistan, and some are set in Britain, and deal with the problems and concerns of young people growing up here today.


I’ve been lucky enough to win many awards, including the Scottish Arts Council Children’s Book of the Year, and have been shortlisted for the Costa Awards, the Blue Peter Awards, and five times for the Carnegie Medal. My books are translated into more than fifteen languages around the world.


Visit Elizabeth’s own website at www.elizabethlaird.co.uk


An extract from The Water Fight By Elizabeth Laird
 

Have you ever moved house? No? Then don’t. It’s a nightmare. You have to pack up every single thing you’ve got. Clear out all your shelves. Stop your mum throwing all your collections away.
  The worst bit is saying goodbye to everything. To the people in your street. To your friends at school. To the cat on the wall near the corner shop. And the place by the swings where you always met your mates.
   The next worst thing is that everyone gets tired and fed up. Especially your mum. And your dad does too, probably. I wouldn’t know about that. My dad’s not around much. He’s on the rigs most of the time.
…Take it from me, I know what I’m talking about. We’ve moved loads of times. Hundreds of times, probably. You have to, when your dad’s on the rigs. And I hate it.

Read the full story in Our City, available from Polygon in November 2008.