''A Little Piece of Ground'' is a young adult novel by Elizabeth Laird, written with

Sonia Nimr Sonia Nimr (Arabic: سونيا نمر) (born 1955) is a Palestinian writer, storyteller, translator, ethnographer and academic. She writes for children and youth in Arabic and English, and relates folk-tales in colloquial Arabic. She is the winner ...

. The book is about a twelve-year-old boy and his family struggling under the oppression of occupation in Palestine. It was first published by Macmillan in 2003 and reprinted by

Haymarket Books Haymarket Books is a left-wing non-profit, independent book publisher based in Chicago. History Haymarket Books was founded in 2001 by Anthony Arnove, Ahmed Shawki and Julie Fain, all of whom had previously worked at the '' International Sociali ...

in 2006. In 2003 it was a nominee for the Carnegie Medal and in 2004 won the

Hampshire Book Award The Hampshire Book Awards are an annual series of literary awards given to works of children's literature. The awards are run by Hampshire County Council's School Library Service. There are three awards: Hampshire Book Award, Hampshire Illustrat ...

. The story comes from Laird's experiences in Lebanon during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. The book has attracted some controversy regarding its portrayal of Israel/Palestinian relations. The book was translated into Arabic and rewritten with the Palestinian author Sonia Nimr and it was published by

Tamer Institute for Community Education The Tamer Institute for Community Education is a non-profit non-governmental educational organization working in Palestine. It was established in 1989 in response to Palestinian needs during the first intifada. Tamer works primarily with and for ...

References

External links

Interview with the writer from NPR, 2003Teaching Guide for ''A Little Piece of Ground''''A Little Piece of Ground'' (PDF file)
2003 British novels British young adult novels Novels set in Israel Macmillan Publishers books {{2000s-ya-novel-stub