Children of the Troubles

In this remarkable second book in the Children of Conflict series, Laurel Holliday presents a powerful collection of young people's memories of growing up in the midst of the violence in Northern Ireland known as "The Troubles." "All my life I have been afraid. When it would get dark I would lie in bed and be frightened to move in case men would be outside who were going to smash the doors in with a sledge hammer and then shoot whoever is in the house as they have done before." -- Bridie Murphy, age twelve More than sixty Catholic and Protestant children, teenagers, and adults chronicle their coming-of-age experiences in the war zone, from bomb-devastated Belfast to the terrorist-ridden countryside. "It was like my head exploded. It's an experience you can't really understand -- getting shot in the head -- unless it's happened to you. -- Stephen Robinson, wounded while walking home from secondary school For the first time in thirty years there is some hope for an end to the murders and bombings that have wounded more than 40,000. But the ravages of war remain indelibly etched on the minds and souls of the generation known as children of "The Troubles."

Laurel Holliday, formerly a college teacher, editor, and psychotherapist, now writes full time in Seattle. She is the award-winning author of the Children of Conflict series: Children in the Holocaust and World War II: Their Secret Diaries; Children of The Troubles: Our Lives in the Crossfire of Northern Ireland; Children of Israel, Children of Palestine: Our Own True Stories; and Children of the Dream: Our Own Stories of Growing Up Black in America. Laurel Holliday is also the author of Heartsongs, an international collection of young girls' diaries, which won a Best Book for Young Adults Award from the American Library Association.