The Garbage King

"The Garbage King" (2003, ISBN 9780764156793) is a fiction book for older children by Elizabeth Laird.

Plot summary

The book is set on the streets on Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia and here lives Mamo. Unfortunately he is caught and made a hardworking slave on a farm far away and his future is not looking too bright.

Meanwhile, a boy called Dani is constantly irritated by his father and decides to run away, even though otherwise his life is plentiful and his parents are very well off.

These two boys meet and really they should not have met...

Awards

* Winner of the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book of the Year Award and the Stockport Schools Book Award.
* Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Blue Peter Book Awards, the Salford Children's Book Award, the Calderdale Children's Book Award, the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award, the Stockton Children's Book of the Year, the West Sussex Children's Book Award, the Portsmouth Book Award and the Sheffield Children's Book Award.

The Inspiration

Elizabeth Laird lived and worked in Ethiopia for some of her life and here she was very happy. She admired some of the children on the streets of Addis Ababa and some of these children inspired her to write "The Garbage King".

References

http://www.elizabethlaird.co.uk/B01_GarbageKing.html