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Laura Bio & Interviews
L. M. Elliott was an award-winning magazine journalist for 20 years before becoming a New York Times bestselling author of historical and biographical novels. Three-time finalist for the National Magazine Award and winner of multiple Dateline Awards, Elliott wrote long "new journalism" features, focused primarily on health, the arts, and women's issues. Her extensive reporting experiences inform and enrich her novels' plots, themes, and characters.
Her 14 novels cover a variety of era--–the Cold War, WWII, the Great Depression, American Revolution, and the Italian Renaissance–--and are for a variety of readerships, ages middle grade to adult. Her works have been honored with the Scott O'Dell, VLA Cardinal Cup, and Grateful American prizes for historical fiction; been named NCSS/CBC Notables, Bank Street College of Education Bests, Kirkus Bests, Capitol Choices, and to the TXLA Tayshas HS Reading Lists; as well as named finalists for state awards in VA, MD, PA, UT, ME, VT, KS, IA, and SC.
She holds a BA from Wake Forest University and a MA in journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill.
WELCOME from LME: "History is so much more than dates, political movements, leaders, and battles we memorize for tests. It is a human drama--the epic tale of how we became who we are today. Ordinary people who live through those wars, push society to change, or stand up for what is morally right and humane—people who dig down deep into their souls to find courage and commitment or just plain stubborn defiance they need to survive a crisis and protect those they love.
That’s both the glory and the challenge of being human. We are capable of poetry, profound devotion, philosophy, and the compassion necessary to fight for justice and to better the lives of others. But we are also capable of cowardice, lies, exploiting one another, and deliberate cruelty born of prejudices and fears.
So, history is about those ground-shifting choices. Hard, sometimes frightening, often bittersweet, or even dangerous choices that individuals—people like you—must face and make. There is no better storyline, nothing more suspenseful, gripping, gut-wrenching, or thought-provoking. And, when reading well-written, well-researched h
Click on individual titles below to learn more about each novel, its time period and facts behind my protagonists’ stories, all drawn from real events and real people. Plus links to learning more and discussion/study units. Or jump to the timeline to see the full swath of choices. Thank you for visiting!"
TRUTH, LIES, AND THE QUESTIONS IN BETWEEN, a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection. Illustrated throughout with remarkable real-life images and headlines, this timely, "docu-novel" exploration of 1973—the year of Watergate hearings, the Equal Rights Amendment, and Roe v. Wade—unfolds through the story of a young woman driven to question everything as she learns to think for, and rely on, herself. (Releasing January 14th, 2025 from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
BEA AND THE NEW DEAL HORSE, winner of the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Set on a Virginia horse-farm during the Great Depression, a young teen and formidable older trainer try to prep a volatile jumper for a horse show, where winning could help save the drought-stricken farm. (Also a Junior Library Guild Gold Selection, Bank St. College of Ed Best, finalist in VA, ME, VT, & UT state awards.)
LOUISA JUNE AND THE NAZIS IN THE WAVES, winner of the VLA's Cardinal Cup. A Homefront portrait of a young teen living in Hitler’s U-boat hunting grounds along the Virginia coastline, trying to help herself and her family survive sudden loss, with the help of the indomitable, cat-charmer Cousin Belle. (Also a NCSS/CBC Notable, a Bank Street College of Education Best, Capitol Choice, and recipient of 4 starred reviews w/ Kirkus, PW, SLJ, and Booklist)
WALLS, a "docudrama" style novel of two cousins in 1961 Berlin—caught on opposite sides of the Cold War standoff between American and Soviet forces and the city’s omnipresent espionage—confronted with the overnight raising of the Berlin Wall. (A NCSS/CBC Notable; Bank Street College of Education Best Book; Kirkus 100 Best YA Novels of 2021, Kirkus Best YA Historical Fiction, and a TXLA TAYSHAS High School Reading List Recommendation.)
SUSPECT RED, a McCarthy-era story of two teenage boys caught up in the Red Scare’s paranoia, winner of the Grateful American Book Prize. (Also a NCSS/CBC Notable, Bank Street College of Education Best, TXLA’s TAYSHAS High School Reading List Recommendation, and a finalist for the PA Young Readers’ State Award.)
A WWII “trilogy” about Henry Forester, a downed B-24 pilot saved by the French Resistance: UNDER A WAR-TORN SKY —an NCSS/CBC Notable, VLA Jefferson Cup Honor Book, Bank Street College of Education Best, winner of 
Borders' Original Voices Award, and a finalist for MD, IA, PA, and SC Young Readers’ state awards; and its sequel A TROUBLED PEACE (also an NCSS/CBC Notable), set in post-liberation France where Henry returns to find those who helped him; plus a companion narrative, ACROSS A WAR-TOSSED SEA (a VLA Jefferson Cup Overfloweth title), the story of Henry’s hometown girl and two British evacuees seeking safety for the duration with her family.
HAMILTON AND PEGGY! A REVOLUTIONARY FRIENDSHIP, a biographical novel about the whip-smart, “wicked wit” Peggy, the youngest of the Schuyler Sisters made famous by the musical Hamilton. ( A Bank Street College of Education Best, and Grateful American Book Prize Honorable Mention. )
GIVE ME LIBERTY, a look at the American Revolution through the eyes and experiences of a young fifer in the 2nd VA Regiment and his best friend, a runaway slave who seeks his freedom with the British's Royal Ethiopian at the Battle of Great Bridge.
DA VINCI’S TIGER, a biographical novel about Ginevra de Benci, the celebrated young, proto-feminist poet in Leonardo’s first portrait (the master’s only work permanently housed in the United States), set in the intrigue and pageantry of the Renaissance’s mecca, the Medici-run city of Florence.
STORM DOG—a whimsical, contemporary story of a young teen misfit finding her voice through the redemptive magic of the Blue Ridge, nature, music, a stray dog, the power of her imagination, dog-dancing, and an apple blossom parade.
FLYING SOUTH, a coming-of-age story exploring the special bond between an elderly gardener and a lonely girl set in the turbulent year of 1968. (A Bank Street College of Education Best Book and winner of the Joan G. Sugarman Literature Award.)
ANNIE, BETWEEN THE STATES, a story about a young woman living on the VA/MD border during the Civil War. (An IRA Teacher’s Choice, New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and VA Readers Choice finalist.)
With New York Times best-selling illustrator Lynn Munsinger, Elliott has also published five picture-books, including HUNTER’S BEST FRIEND AT SCHOOL, an IRA/CBC Children’s Choice, VA Readers’ Choice finalist, TXLA 2 X 2 Reading List, A STRING OF HEARTS, and THANKSGIVING DAY THANKS.
