Laura Malone Elliott, known by her pen nameL. M. Elliott, is an American author of more than a dozen young adult novels, including Under a War-Torn Sky (2001), Give Me Liberty (2008), A Troubled Peace (2009), Da Vinci’s Tiger (2015), Suspect Red (2017), Hamilton and Peggy! A RevolutionaryFriendship (2018), Walls (2021), and Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves (2022).
Biography
Elliott was born in 1957 near Washington, D.C. She graduated from Wake Forest University and holds a master's in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also holds several national literary awards, such as the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction for Bea and the New Deal Horse, the NCSS/CBC Notable Book in Social Studies for her works Under a War-Torn Sky, A Troubled Peace, Suspect Red, and Walls, which were also named Bank Street College of Education Best Books along with Hamilton and Peggy! and Flying South. Her book Suspect Red, a 1950s McCarthy-era story of two teenage boys caught up in the Red Scare’s paranoia, was the winner of the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize. Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, a biographical novel about the youngest of the Schuyler Sisters, also received a Grateful American Book Prize Honorable Mention that same year.
Elliott was a long-time senior writer for the Washingtonian magazine.
Elliott was twice a finalist for the National Magazine Award and recipient of numerous Dateline awards. She wrote often on children, women's issues, and health, and co-authored two adult nonfiction works during her time as a journalist.
Elliott has also authored five picture books for children with New York Times best-selling illustrator, Lynn Munsinger, including: Hunter's Best Friend at School, Hunter and Stripe and the Soccer Showdown, and Hunter's Big Sister, and A String of Hearts. Their last illustrated title together, Thanksgiving Day Thanks, was released in January, 2013.
Elliott lives in Fairfax County, Virginia, and has an adult daughter and son, also professional creative artists. She appears frequently at middle schools and high schools where she speaks with students about writing, research, and the value of reading about history.
Awards
NCSS/CBC Notable Book in Social Studies (Under a War-Torn Sky)
Jefferson Cup Honor Book (Under a War-Torn Sky)
Bank Street College of Education's Best Book (Under a War-Torn Sky)
Borders' Original Voices Award (Under a War-Torn Sky)
IRA/Children's Book Council Children's Choice (Hunter's Best Friend at School)
Bank Street College of Education Best Book (Flying South)
Joan G. Sugarman Literature Award (Flying South)
NCSS/CBC Notable (A Troubled Peace)
Jefferson Cup Overfloweth (Across a War-Tossed Sea)
Shattered Dreams: The Story of Charlotte Fedders with Charlotte Fedders (New York: Harper & Row, 1987)
A to Z Guide to Your Child's Behavior: A Parent's Easy and Authoritative Reference to Hundreds of Everyday Problems and Concerns from Birth to Twelve Years (contributor) (New York: Putnam, 1993)
↑Elliott, L.M. (2022). Louisa June and the Nazis in the Waves. Katherine Tegen Books. LCCN2021945751.
↑Elliott, L.M. (2023). Bea and the New Deal Horse. Katherine Tegen Books (published March 28, 2023). ISBN9780063219007.
↑Elliott, L.M. (2025). Truth, Lies, and the Questions in Between. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (published January 14, 2025). ISBN9781643752822.
