Kiss the Dust

by Elizabeth Laird

Tara is an ordinary teenager. Although her country, Kurdistan, is caught up in a war, the fighting seems far away. It hasn't really touched her. Until now. The secret police are closing in. Tara and her family must flee to the mountains with only the few things they can carry. It is a hard and dangerous journey—but their struggles have only just begun. Will anywhere feel like home again?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, War, Fiction, Middle East, Historical, Middle Grade

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

About the author

Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943, the fourth of five children. Her father was a ship's surgeon; both he and Laird's mother were Scottish. In 1945, Laird and her family returned to Britain and she grew up in South London, where she was educated at Croydon High School.
When she was eighteen, Laird started teaching at a school in Malaysia. She decided to continue her adventurous life, even though she was bitten by a poisonous snake and went down with typhoid.

After attending the university in Bristol, Laird began teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She and a friend would hire mules and go into remote areas in the holidays.

After a while at Edinburgh University, Laird worked in India for a summer. During travel, she met her future husband, David McDowall, who she said was very kind to her when she was airsick on a plane. The couple were married in 1975 and have two sons, Angus and William.

Laird has also visited Iraq and Lebanon. She claims to dislike snakes, porridge and being cold but enjoys very dark chocolate, Mozart, reading and playing the violin in the Iraq Symphony Orchestra.

She currently lives in Richmond, London with her husband.

Reviews

[Celia Buell (semi hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given how small this book was, and how slowly it started off, I am pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

The story follows twelve year old Tara Hawrami and her family as they are booted first from their comfortable life in Iraq to the mountains of Kurdistan, then to Iran, and finally to England, hoping to escape the Iran-Iraq War (I think that was the war, it never said specifically though) and the persecution that the Kurdish people were faced with.

I think that historical fiction is a great way to get an introduction to world issues, and this was no exception. I don't know much about the various conflicts in the Middle East, or indeed much about anything that happened between the end of WWII and the turn of the century, even though my parents grew up during the 60's and 70's. Kiss the Dust served as really good insight to the discrimination that Kurdish people face throughout the Middle East and the world.

I drew a lot of parallels between this novel and Between Shades of Gray, including the various camps and the uncertainty the family faced throughout. Even though the two novels are set in different times and places, the themes were very similar, and I do understand that things that happened in WWII did lead to many of the conflicts during the Cold War and the period that followed.

Another book this reminded me of was Home is Beyond the Mountains, which I honestly haven't thought about in years. Again, it is set in a different time period, in WWI, although the region is the same. All three of these books have taught me a lot about the world, and again, I generally believe that historical fiction is a great way to do this, for any and all age groups.

I do feel like Kiss the Dust itself was lacking a little bit in its plot development. In both of the other books I mentioned, there is loss early on and throughout the story. While I don't believe that all books need to have sadness or loss to be good, I do feel that in historical fiction it helps to give a larger picture of what the world was like at that time, and a larger picture of the author's message about that situation in writing their story. I kept expecting this type of loss, and then I was almost disappointed when it wasn't in this novel in the same way. Again, I'm not saying that all historical fiction should have death and loss, but I think that it adds something to the genre, and especially the war and refugee sub-genres.

I started off this week not wanting to read a book dealing with super heavy themes, but I eventually looked at this on my shelf at home, and I'm glad I did. I did really enjoy the story. I don't know if it's necessarily something I would reread any time soon, but I'll definitely keep it around in case I do decide to, and not give it away any time soon either.

[IsaJameela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good. It reflected all the struggles that the Kurds are going through and the struggles that refugees are going through around the world, just to live their life. The writing was amazing and Laird really showed how they had lost their home and how it slowly seemed further and further away. It was really interesting, the way she showed how completely different the customs were in England and how hard it is for refugees to adjust. Laird showed that a lot of the people living in the west are ignorant, and live sheltered lives, having no idea what's going on in other places in the world. The only thing I didn't like about this book was the ending. I've found that I've never particularly like Laird's endings in her other books I've read because they're two abstract and in my opinion leave too much to the imagination. Overall though, I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone.

[Daisy May Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hallmark of an Elizabeth Laird book is research. Regardless of the topic, her books are always grounded very solidly in truth. I believe what she writes and that's a testament to her sensitivity as a writer. I adored The Garbage King and in a sort of strange way Kiss the Dust is a little bit of a precursor to that book despite their vastly different subject area.

Kiss the Dust, written in 1991, is set initially in Iraq. Tara is living a comfortable life until her father's work with the Kurdish resistance becomes discovered by the Iraqi secret police. This results in Tara's family leaving the country and becoming refugees.

It's a sensitive, mature coming of age story for both Tara and her family. Set in a period of history I know very little about, Laird is clever at fleshing out her story with incidental detail without distracting from the central narrative. It's also intriguing to see how she constantly draws her story into discussing community, how people shape home regardless of where you thought your home was.

There were points in this book that became slow for me but I think that's possibly a personal thing of balancing my expectations against the actual narrative. Additionally I wasn't keen on the fact that the edition I read had a contextual preface in the front of it. I appreciate the necessity of context in a story of this nature but much prefer it to come after a book rather than at the front, before the actual story itself.

[Taryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not sure how I stumbled upon this book, but I read it when I was 10 years old and it had a lasting impact on me. I was living in a war zone of my own within a very unhappy family where outbursts of violence and conflict were a daily occurrence. I never felt safe within my own home and reading a story about a young girl around my own age being displaced from her home felt very akin to my own experience, despite the fact that I was living in a peaceful society. I think that connection to that character fostered within me a compassion for and desire to really get to know the struggle of those from other cultures that has been carried with me into my 30s. I am very grateful that I stumbled upon this book at such a young age.

[Alesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have read about the Kurdish diaspora experience. Simple and direct in style, it follows a teenage girl from Suleymaniya in Iraq as her family takes refuge in the Zagros mountains, then cross the border into Iran, then move through several refugee camps, until finally receiving asylum in England. The book is both sensitive and detailed, describing events (and their causes) that few other mainstream books have tackled. These include:

* Tensions between Kurds and Saddam's regime before the Iran/Iraq war

* Unwillingness of young Kurdish men to be conscripted into Saddam's army to fight Iran (joining one enemy to fight another)

* Bombing raids conducted against Kurdish villages by Saddam's army in 1984-5, even before the genocide of Al Anfal officially began in 1986

* Extreme danger and difficulty of fleeing by foot and horseback over the Zagros Mountains to Iran

* Horrible conditions of refugee camps in Iran (barely any food, bug-infested shacks to live in, and the mistrust of Persians towards Kurds)

* Genuine friendships between Kurds and Arabs in Kurdish Iraq, despite governmental pressure and unfairness

* Desperation of refugees seeking asylum, and the lack of reliable information given to them

* Prison-like conditions in UK detention camps for asylum seekers

I really admire Elizabeth Laird for the great job she did describing all these things while still writing an engaging story appropriate for young adult readers.

[Brooke Watton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book maybe 10 15 years ago, and glad I reread it again as I'd forgotten what all had happened but remembered enjoying it. Still enjoyed it, although the writing style is more YA than my norm.

[Radiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story starts with an execution on the street witnessed by the young girl on the street. It then quickly escalated to her family having to flee to the mountains to join Kurdish freedom fighters. I found it interesting; the mother who fought to keep the family together and raise her children as best she could in a hostile environment, Arab neighbours willing to help their Kurdish neighbours, a father who maintained that to do the right thing was more important than anything, a brother caught up in the excitement of going off to be a freedom fighter and a village surviving and thriving despite indiscriminate bombings.

My friend gave me this book and I read it without realising it was a children's book. It explores the fictional life of a Kurdish family forced to flee Iraqi secret police during the time of the war between Iraq and Iran from the point of view of a young girl of 15. The writer conveys the confusion and desperation of what must be millions of Kurds during that time through this family.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for my English class when at school, but it is one that made a lasting impression on me, a book I've never forgotten, partly because it inspired me to write this poem, at age thirteen:

Freedom is not
waiting in the dust
for someone to pick up the pieces
so you can start again

Freedom is
making your own decisions
and deciding upon what
other people may ask of you

Freedom is not
frightening away hope
with fears of the past
and being locked away in it

Freedom is
letting yourself loose
and rediscovering the world
which you live in.

I don't remember much of the story itself, actually, apart from the fact that I was quite taken with the lead character.

[Weasel King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid writing and descriptions for a younger audience, with the deprivations of refugee life but none of the harsher themes and war crimes. There is a detailed description of a bloody air raid, but solidly PG after that. The author's note at the end thanks the Kurdish girls whose stories framed the book, so it's not completely fiction.

The major pitfall is that the ending is a bit rushed and too easily wrapped up, but it does not, overall, detract too much from the story itself.

[Zev · Rating 2 out of 5]

Please pardon any spelling errors and consider this review to be petty. Like many others, I read this in seventh grade for school. It was assigned a few months after the September 11, 2001 attacks. I remember wondering if there was a reason it was assigned then, or if every school had to read it. Reading this book as an adult brought back flickers of memories of reading it then. School comp/lit classes always made me hate reading, and I'd come home and dive into my pile of library books and ignore my homework. I also loathed my seventh grade teacher. Everyone who had her did. I was a real jerk to her, especially about this book. I couldn't relate to it, had no idea why we were reading it, and found it boring and confusing. As an adult, I was determined to read it in one sitting, which I did, and hoped for a different opinion. I'm ashamed that I still can't relate and that I'm critical of the writing: repeated prettysetting! Bombing! Long journey! Arguing! Long journey! Barely there emotions! This is clearly for young teens, and that's fine, but it really feelslike the author normally writes for adults, and is somehow holding back. The little kids add nothing to the story and annoyed me. From the way they were written, I wonder if the author had children the same age when she wrote this. Reading this in one sitting overall reinforced my lack of enjoyment or connection.

[Sylvie · Rating 3 out of 5]

"What was the sense of being so proud when you hadn't got anything left to be proud of?"

The first time I read this I didn't understand anything. I was around 13 years old and horrible in English. I had to read it for school, so that made the reading a lot less fun too.
I just had to read it again to see what it was actually about.
This book is about the war between Persians and Kurds. The story is written from the perspective of a girl of thirteen (the same age I approximately was when I had to read it for school, clever of my teacher). So the complicated things about the war are not mentioned. The book was an easy read, because of that.
It was a good way of seeing how a girl that can't understand all about what's going on and why, but does understand what has to be done and takes her responsibilities seriously.
The reality of it did touch me. The way they kept having to flee and had to be alert all the time. She went through too much, especially for her age.
It wasn't the kind of book I usually like, but I would'nt say that this wasn't a nice read.

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

If only I knew who did the jacket art to the original Heinemann edition. It's haunting. This was a new book when I read it to my 7 year old. I remember her being impressed that the family carried a samovar into exile in the mountains - and that was impressive, but even more impressive to me was that they managed it with a three-year-old. My daughter also laughed at Mrs. Amina's driving and Teriska Khan's shopping in London. There is a lot in this book, though, for an older child or adult to help understand what happens when to stay in your own land means death. The fear that you might have put others in danger, the sadness of a child missing their friends, a small child who only remembers a refugee camp as home, and finally the terror of settling in completely unfamiliar surroundings with people, sometimes unsympathetic, who do not understand a thing you say.

[Mena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I breezed through this book pretty quick given how simple it was. Although it was a refugee/war based story, it didn’t have alot of war elements like violence & etc. & I believe it’s because of the audience & the perspective it’s written from. It was refreshing to look at it from a different angle. I usually steer clear of war books because they tend to be too heavy.

The only thing I didn’t like was the constant changing & diversion from every situation they were in. They would get somewhere & immediately move without much elaboration on the place they were at. Sometimes I got tired of not seeing much development.

Overall, I love the writing style & the fact that this was centered around Kurds. They just don’t write books this way anymore

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not entirely riveting, this YA novel is a very worthy offering in light of today's news of U.S. / Kurd relationships. This story was written close to two decades ago detailing the anguish and displacement of Kurds during the Iran/Iraq war. Their homeland, which spans Turkey, Iran and Iraq, has a 4,000 year history and no longer exists as a sovereign entity. I felt an imperative to understand better who these people are and build an empathy toward their plight. The author makes this entirely possible with a heart-felt story and careful attention to authenticity.

[Faye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tells the story of a 12 year old Kurdish girl who has to flee her home in Iraq to a refugee camp in Iran. Good descriptions of family life in Iraq before Saddam Hussein's regime and the difficulty of life in a refuge camp.

[Roda Ibrahim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread after first reading it at school for a book report. Such an easy read but a powerful one, it follows the story of a Kurdish girl in Iraq. Highly recommend to understand the conflict and war in a more human way esp from the perspective of children, who suffer the most.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A peek into the Iraq/Iran/Kurdish war in the 1980's, and the impact on children and families. Use of God's name, and a spoiled child alert, as well as war descriptives.

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fictional story about a Kurdish family living in Iraq who has to flee across the mountains to Iran.

[Norhayati · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read.

[Humayraa Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved every minute of it !
definitely recommend

[Taylor O'Meara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this YA book bc I wanted to learn about the Kurdish people and the wars in the Middle East. It was a good book for learning about the Kurds and it was an easy page turner.

[Ghulam Fiza]

Norsk:Tara fra Sulaimaniya, oversatt av Inger Østenstad

[Adama Fall · Rating 3 out of 5]

4) if you could change the life or lives of a story character, to make their lives more like the lives of the lives of the characters in the book or story you are reding, whoses lives would you change? how would you change their lives? why did you pick these people or that person?

i would like to change tara's life , this thirteen years old. she lived a difficult moment in iraq war. his father was a resistant to iraq governement.first she had travelled in the mountains, and went to iran. she had lived many danger with her exile. she left school and her friends in iraq. her life was very difficult but she always takes care of the whole family.
i want for TARA a better life than she knew. i would like to see her going to school without fear. i would like to protect TARA against all the cruality around her( bomb, murder,war ect). TARA should be happy and joyful according to her age.
i pick this person because she is the important person in that book. she is brave and optimist. moreover, she helps the whole family. she is realistic.

2) does this story or it's characters remind you of another story you have read? does it remind you of a movie? how are they alike? and how are they different?
this book reminds me ''number the star''. TARA reminds me ANNEMARIE JOHANSENS. they have the same age . both of them has lived the war. both has tried to help people around them, people that they love. both were brave and strong. those two characters are really similar

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a look into the life of a Kurdish girl in Iraq during a time of persecution of Kurds. Tara's father and brother are involved in the Kurd resistance, which makes it unsafe for them to remain in their home. The family fleas Kurdistan and Iraq, going to refugee camps in Iran. The refugee camp is cramped and dirty. The people are controlled in every way, even their messages to the outside world is limited. Tara's mother is ill when they arrive, and Tara must take care of the family and nurse her mother back to health. This experience of being the woman-in-charge forces Tara to grow up and see the world differently. When they are granted leave to visit relatives, Tara finds that she has a hard time relating to her cousin. She no longer is interested in talking about make up and shopping since these things have become so unimportant in her life. Finally, the family goes to London, where Tara's father has a job he hates and the family has barely enough money to survive. Tara, however, can go back to school and finish her education. She struggles as a new girl in a new school in a foreign language, but the book ends on a hopeful note. Tara, the reader can easily believe, will be fine.

Young teens can use this novel as a starting point to thinking about war and other social problems. It is a little predictable, but it's an interesting story.

[Andjelija · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about Tara and her family. they have to run away because she is a Kurd living in Iraq in 1984. At that time there was a war going on between Kurds and Arabics.(who haate each other! A lot!) So Tara and the family have to run away to the mountains were they have family.

when i was reading Kiss The Dust i was able to connect to Tara while she was running away. She was really scared that someone would tell that they were running away from home. it reminded me of when me and my cousin ran out in the middle of the night in just our underware because our grandpa had played a trick on us and made it look like he was a theif coming to steal us. but when we found out what happend we tried to make sure that our grandma did not find out about it.

i gave this book 5 stars because it is a very good cliff hanger. And it makes you want to read the book. i would recomand this book to anyone that like non-fiction/historicaly acurat books about war. this is a very, very, very, very asome book i think evry one should read it!!!!!!!!

[Demming · Rating 2 out of 5]

The novel Kiss the Dust authored by Elizabeth Laird is about a Kurdish family struggling to live within their country. Tara Hawrami, 12 years old lives in Iraq with her younger sister, older brother, mom and dad. Tara faces extreme dangers but attempts to keep her grades and attedance up in school. Her father, Kak Soran is a part of an illegal group in which the Secret Police are after. Tara has encountered situations no other family would face. Now, surviving the refugee camps she must flee her house in the Zagros Mountains to escape from the Secret Police.

The book supplied information on the Middle East culture but did not appeal to our group. If you are not interested in this culture the book may be boring and then turn into a slow read. Even though readers may not be interested in learning about foreign problems, Kiss the Dust gave descriptive information about the stuggles the Kurdish people faced. They described the situations clearly so one's mind could visualize easily.

[Lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beauty of this book is that it deals with a coming-of-age in the midst of most extraordinary and often horrific circumstances. Tara is young in the beginning. She is a slightly immature schoolgirl, and acts it. Her parents have sheltered her, she has a good home, schooling, and an Arab friend who does not look down on her simply because she is a Kurd, as so many other Arabs in Iraq do. Life is relatively simple and good.

Then, one day, everything changes. Tara witnesses a young Kurdish boy being executed, and her eyes begin to open. As events start to unravel around her, she learns many things: her father is a high-ranking leader in a rebellion, her uncle is a fighter, her mother is supportive, but afraid...her whole world begins to change.

Forced to flee their home, Tara learns many life lessons among the terror of village bombings, the misery of refugee camps and the threat of family illness. Tara, truly, comes of age.

[Brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely fantastic book. I read it because I was hoping it would offer an accurate glimpse of Iraq for a unit I am doing with a sixth grade student whose sister is currently deployed there. It does. Although the book is about a Kurdish family during the Iraq-Iran War of the 1980s, all the information is still extremely accurate and useful. It explains that Kurdish and Arab are ethnicities split 20-80 percent (respectively) in Iraq. It deals with Islam not only as it applies to the 12-year-old Kurdish protaganist, but also how it is practices differently in Iran once her family flees there. Then it offers her perspective on Western culture when she finds herself in London. All this information would be great for any students grades 6-8 who need a view of the Middle East that has a more human face and feel.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kiss the Dust is a really nice book. It will make you sad, frustrated, happy, and so much more. Tara is a really unique character and really sets the story together. I really enjoyed going on this adventure along with Tara and her family. It was as if I were with them! There was lots of tension in the story and that is how I like it. I really felt what kind of hardships Tara was going through. Out of all, I really enjoyed this book. I think that the Author's Craft is really unique. This was my book club book and the theme me and my partner thought of was " Don't let challenges affect your hope." ***SPOILER ALERT**** I like the ending really much. They went to Europe to start a new life. But, yes there are bad and good things and consequences. And really all I have to say is that I loved this book with ALL my HEART!

[English Education]

TW: Death, violence, war.
A historical fiction novel, this book revolves around Tara Hawrami, a Kurdish girl living in Iraq, and her family. Throughout the novel, the family must deal with the war between the Kurds and the Iraqis, with Tara’s uncle and brother both having joined the pesh murga, or resistance fighters. Tara must escape to the mountains to enter hiding, and then later flees to England, where she gains refugee status. Given the continuing importance of the conflicts in the Middle East, it is worthwhile for students to deepen their understanding of this region and its history. This novel would be most effective in a unit on political conflict and violence, multiculturalism, or family.