Product Description

12-year-old Karim Aboudi and his family are trapped in their Ramallah home by a strict curfew. Israeli tanks control the city in response to a Palestinian suicide bombing. Karim longs to play football with his mates – being stuck inside with his teenage brother and fearful parents is driving him crazy. When the curfew ends, he and his friend discover an unused patch of ground that’s the perfect site for a football pitch. Nearby, an old car hidden intact under bulldozed buildings makes a brilliant den. But in this city there’s constant danger, even for schoolboys. And when Israeli soldiers find Karim outside during the next curfew it seems impossible that he will survive . . .

A LITTLE PIECE OF GROUND is an exciting, enlightening and important story that brings to life the reality of events reported daily in the news, and will help young readers understand more about one of the worst conflicts affecting our world today.

'A fine book, and a daring book' Michael Morpurgo

'This book must go down as a brave, serious and successful attempt to reach out and have this story heard' Michael Rosen, Books for Keeps

'A Little Piece of Ground has the same rights as any other book to be on the shelves of shops and libraries. I also think that by reading books like this, and acknowledging other points of view, it will be easier for both sides to understand each other' Jewish Chronicle (14-year-old reader.)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64824 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-06
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
"'A fine book, and a daring book.' Michael Morpurgo"

About the Author

Elizabeth Laird is the author of many award-winning children’s novels. KISS THE DUST, about the experience of the Kurds, won the Children’s Book Award. JAKE’S TOWER, RED SKY IN THE MORNING and SECRET FRIENDS were all nominated for the Carnegie Medal. She knows the Middle East well, and lived in Lebanon during the war there. Her husband has written a history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. She has collaborated with Sonia Nimr, a Palestinian writer and university lecturer who lives with her family in Ramallah, to research and write A LITTLE PIECE OF GROUND.

Customer Reviews

An excellent book
Zionist pressure groups are trying to ban this book. Buy this book now if only to defend freedom of expression and to highlight the plight of the Palestinian people. Your children must know that apartheid is still alive and well today in the State of Israel and that children remain its worst victims.

An excellent book
This is a book written for adults and children. Anyone with an understanding of the Gaza Strip and West Bank will find this story to be an accurate description of what the Palestinians endure on a daily basis. For everyone else who cares it will reveal the true horror and reality of a Palestinian child's life under occupation.

It is a deeply moving book. Elizabeth Laird and her publisher (Macmillan I believe) should be congratulated for writing and publishing this.

Having read it, it is clear why some pressure groups are unhappy with this book. When you next listen to the news your first thoughts will be for children like Karim and their families. Highly recommended.

A must read for adults and children
This book is for adults and children alike and tells the story of a young Palestinian boy living in the West Bank, but the story is not so much about politics as about brothers, friendship, falling in love and football.
Parents should encourage their 11 to 14 year-olds to buy and read this book for when we read it we know what it is to feel opressed, to feel fear every day. And we should all know it, for this is how much of the world lives today.
This books tells the story from the perspective of the soldiers as well as Karim's---a book written by a master story teller