Awards

• Short-listed for Carnegie Medal 1997
• Short-listed for LA Carnegie Medal 1997
• Shortlisted for Carnegie Medal 1997.
• Shortlisted for LA Carnegie Medal 1997.

Overview

"""It's crazy, starting at a new school. For days you feel so new and lost it's as if you've wandered into a foreign country where you can't speak the language."" This haunting story about Rafaella, the new girl at school who finds making friends hard, is a stunning piece of writing. With her strange name and sticking out ears she's different from the rest. Lucy is the first to tease, the first to call her 'Earwig'. Until a secret friendship starts, full of warmth and mystery . . ."

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9780340664735

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Reviews

Beautifully written, evokes strong emotions -- Good Book Guide Conveys so much, so simply and so well -- The Scotsman

From Laird (Kiss the Dust, 1992, etc.), a brief tale of a friend quickly won and lost to a sudden, unexpected death in this British novella. Lucy narrates how she came to call the new girl, Rafaella, Earwig because of her large, protruding ears. Both girls live to regret it when the name catches on among their classmates. A fast friendship is formed, but on the sly; Lucy wants to keep her friends at school, who dislike Rafaella. Rafaella alludes to a surprise that will take place over the holiday break; she enters the hospital for cosmetic surgery on her ears but dies from a previously undetected heart defect. Characters are developed in broad strokes and the plotting skims along; Lucy's narration is spare - reined in emotionally and lacking physical details or descriptions. Short, plain sentences and wide margins may have appeal for struggling readers, but it'll be hard for them to squeeze out tears when everything happens so cursorily. (Kirkus Reviews)

This is a portrait of how a girl is ostracized because of her sticking-out ears. Lucy, who gives her the nickname 'Earwig', becomes her secret friend out of school, but is a part of the crowd who ignore her in school. It is a beautifully written book that evokes strong emotions and provokes much thought about being kind to others. (8-10 yrs) (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Elizabeth Laird's family is Scottish but she was born in New Zealand and grew up in Surrey. After studying languages at Bristol & Edinburgh Universities, she worked in Ethiopia and India where she met her husband, David McDowall, a writer on Middle Eastern affairs. They have two children.

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