Helping Refugees in Jordan has linked up with small a UK charity, the Mandala Trust [Registered Charity No. 1096861] to make it easy for people in this country to help. Pan Macmillan will be making a donation of fifty pence to the Mandala Trust for every hardback copy of A House Without Walls sold in the UK, ahead of the paperback publication in January 2020.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people helped me to write this book. In Jordan, I was looked after by Maher Atalef and Julie Delaire, who put me up in their flat in Amman and answered all my questions. Thank you so much, Maher and Julie!
While I was in Amman, Dr Rafat Bassam told me about the bottling plant he’d worked in after school and all weekend for years and years, to help support his family. He worked so hard that he was able to go right through medical school and become a doctor. Thank you, Dr Rafat, for giving me so many ideas. It was Jacki Scott of Hands on Hope who introduced me to Dr Rafat and told me about the many Syrian families she has helped, so thanks for that, Jacki, too.
In Azraq I was shown round by Israa Al-Shishani, who told me about the school she directs and the children she teaches. She took me to meet Abdul Aziz and his family, who had fled from Syria and are trying to make new lives in Jordan.
Catherine Ashcroft of Helping Refugees in Jordan has been an essential supporter and adviser. She was never too busy to answer my many calls and hundreds of questions and gave me lots of ideas. Her colleague Lexi Shereshewsky of the Syria Fund knows Azraq well. She suggested the name Perfumes of Paradise for the beauty salon, so thank you for that, Lexi!
Back in England, I couldn’t even have got started without the support of everyone at Macmillan, especially Lucy Pearse my editor. She had a hard job pulling my chaotic first drafts into shape and put in a huge amount of work. Without her, this novel would never have seen the light of day.
Lucy Eldridge, the artist who did the lovely drawings, has added so much to the book. Your work is beautiful, Lucy, and I can’t thank you enough for it.
Dr Marwa Mouazen of Edinburgh University has been a wonderful friend and adviser. She read through the whole manuscript, corrected my few bits of shaky Arabic and saved me from making embarrassing mistakes. She cooks great Syrian food too! Thank you for all that, Marwa.
Jane Fior has been my friend and mentor forever. She picked me up when I nearly foundered in the middle of the writing process and gave me the push I needed to go on. Thank you, as always, Jane.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Laird is the author of dozens of much-loved children’s books, including The Garbage King, The Fastest Boy in the World, Oranges in No Man’s Land and the UKLA award-winning Welcome to Nowhere. She has been shortlisted for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal six times.
Elizabeth has lived in different countries in the Middle East and Africa and now lives in Britain, but she still likes to travel as much as she can. She has worked in Syrian refugee camps in Jordan, and twice visited Amman and Azraq, where A House Without Walls takes place.
Forced to flee his home in Syria, Omar and his family face the dangers of civil war. A moving story of conflict and hope, winner of the UKLA Book Award.
The gripping story of a ten-year-old girl who risks death to make a life-saving dash through war-torn Beirut.
A powerful story about the importance of ocean conservation and looking after your environment from the award-winning author, Elizabeth Laird.
Praise for the UKLA Award-winning Welcome to Nowhere
‘Humane and empathetic . . . Not only eye-opening, important and topical, but a vivid, emotionally involving, nail-biting read . . . an effective call to action’ Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times Children’s Book of the Week
‘A muscular, moving, thought-provoking book’ Guardian
‘Powerful, heartbreaking and compelling’ Scotsman
‘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, The Times
Children’s Book of the Week
‘Deeply moving . . . you can always count on Elizabeth Laird to write fearlessly but with compassion and this story will give readers plenty to think about’ The Bookbag
Books by Elizabeth Laird published by
Macmillan Children’s Books
Welcome to Nowhere
Secret Friends
Song of the Dolphin Boy
Dindy and the Elephant
The Fastest Boy in the World
The Prince Who Walked with Lions
The Witching Hour
Lost Riders
Crusade
Oranges in No Man’s Land
Paradise End
Secrets of the Fearless
A Little Piece of Ground
The Garbage King
Jake’s Tower
Red Sky in the Morning
Kiss the Dust
First published 2019 by Macmillan Children’s Books
This electronic edition published 2019 by Macmillan Children’s Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-2825-8
Text copyright © Elizabeth Laird 2019
Illustrations copyright © Lucy Eldridge 2019
Cover Illustration by Tom Sanderson
The right of Elizabeth Laird and Lucy Eldridge to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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