The Tyrant's Daughter Audiobook

Quotes

• Laila is a complex and layered character whose nuanced observations will help readers better understand the divide between American and Middle Eastern cultures. Smart, relevant, required reading.”

• BookPage, February 2014:"As a former undercover CIA agent, debut author J.C. Carleson has a firm grasp on the world of espionage and power plays. She is able to take her intimate knowledge of this secretive world, an often-avoided gray area of morality, and craft an amazingly gripping and honest tale. Carleson keeps her readers feeling as though they have just returned from traveling in a foreign land, making those faraway issues feel a little more personal—a feat few can achieve with words alone."

• Booklist, February 1, 2014:"This is more than just Laila’s story; rather, it is a story of context, beautifully written (by a former undercover CIA agent), and stirring in its questions and eloquent observations about our society and that of the Middle East."

• Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February 2014:

• Timely, relevant, and fascinating, Laila’s story offers readers an accessible understanding of the seemingly intractable nature of Middle East politics. An equally fascinating additional note by Dr. Cheryl Benard offers more real-world context for Laila’s fictional but very credible position. Resources for further research are included."

• This story is important on so many levels. It invites readers to contemplate paradox and contradictions in ways that few books do: how a friend’s loyalty trumps her annoying habits; how you can love your country and still be honest about its shortcomings; how betrayal might be justifiable. But mostly it’s a touching, suspenseful story about two children who don’t belong anywhere. Every American should read this book. It’s an eye-opener.

  — Suzanne Fisher Staples, Newbery Honor-winning author of Shabanu

• It's a story both foreign and familiar, global and intimate. A tense chess game where you'll think you know the final moves only to learn you've been outsmarted.

  — Dana Reinhardt, award-winning author of The Things a Brother Knows

• Mashable, June 17, 2014:

• This compelling look at someone fighting desperately against a truth she'd rather not believe challenges you to think deeper."

• The Boston Globe, June 21, 2014:"Carleson, a former undercover CIA officer, infuses her story with compelling details and gripping authenticity."

• Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, November 18, 2013:

• Filled with political intrigue and emotional tension, Carleson’s riveting novel features a teenage refugee caught in a web of deceit and conspiracy."

• Starred Review, Kirkus, December 15, 2013:

• “What’s it like to be caught between cultures? The author, a former CIA agent, knows. So will listeners after hearing Meera Simhan’s portrayal of fifteen-year-old Laila, who immigrates to the US from an unnamed Middle Eastern country after her father is murdered in a coup. Simhan reads with lightly accented precision, balancing Laila’s conflicting emotions at being ‘a girl divided’…This audio production includes an author’s note and a commentary by Cheryl Benard, a researcher dedicated to social activism.”

  — AudioFile