Elsa Marston
children's author

Forthcoming in 2014:
Picture book
Forthcoming in 2013:
Y-A biography
Fiction, young adult
An adventure in ancient Egypt
Eight stories about teens in Arab societies
collection of short stories
Notes about the stories
Poetry
poems inspired by animals depicted in Southwestern rock art
Nonfiction
a look at the variety of women's lives in the Middle East and North Africa
History
Stories in Y-A collections
in FIRST CROSSING AND OTHER STORIES OF IMMIGRANT TEENS
in MEMORIES OF SUN: STORIES OF AFRICA AND AMERICA (2004)
in SOUL SEARCHING: THIRTEEN STORIES ABOUT FAITH AND BELIEF

Quick Links

Authors Guild
E-mail me
Find Authors

THE COMPASSIONATE WARRIOR: ABD EL-KADER OF ALGERIA

Y-A biography of a heroic Muslim freedom-fighter and interfaith bridge-builder. In the 19th century, the Emir Abd el-Kader was a greatly admired "international celebrity"--and deservedly so. After leading the resistance to the French imperial conquest of Algeria in the 1830s and '40s, he was imprisoned for five years, then exiled to Damascus. There he and his followers saved the lives of several thousand local Christians when riots and massacres broke out.

As a resistance-leader and as a promoter of interfaith harmony, Abd el-Kader made a huge impression in his own time. Today this remarkable man is once again receiving attention, both scholarly and popular. THE COMPASSIONATE WARRIOR is one of very few--if any--historical biographies written for teenagers about outstanding Muslims whose faith was an essential framework for their actions.