The Tyrant's Daughter

March 31, 2014
When her Middle Eastern dictator father was killed in a coup, Laila, her mother, and her younger brother flee the country. Now a teenager, Laila must adapt to life in the U.S. as her family tries to recover from its loss of power. Laila is slowly adapting to her new life, but her mother longs to return to the life she left behind. And now, Laila must decide what her future holds. Narrator Simhan turns in a solid performance in this audio edition. She provides Laila an appropriate Middle-Eastern accent and her tone reflects that of a teenager acclimating to a new culture. But Simhan shines brightest during the book’s moments of tension, generating a subtle range of emotions. Add in a fine performance from Benard, and the result is an audio edition that makes for compelling listening. Ages 12–up. A Knopf hardcover

Starred review from 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. Fifteen-year-old Laila grew up believing she was a princess and that her younger brother, Bastien, was heir to the throne. After her father’s assassination, however, when her family flees to the United States, she learns that the world views her father as a cruel dictator (“ ‘Repressive regime,’ that damning alliteration, chases him throughout the newspapers like a dog nipping at his heels”). Carleson dramatically illustrates Laila’s culture shock in a suburb of Washington, D. C., not knowing whether she can trust her friendly American classmates or if she should befriend fellow refugees resentful of her father’s power. She is even unsure about her own mother, whose secret telephone conversations and sporadic financial windfalls make Laila suspicious. The heroine’s homeland is never named, but readers will find it easy to draw parallels to current events. Raising as many questions as answers about Laila’s fate, the novel challenges
social values close to home and abroad. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jessica Regel, Foundry Literary + Media.

Starred review from December 15, 2013
A teenage girl from an unnamed Middle Eastern country attempts to come to terms with her dictator father's bloody legacy in this absorbing character-driven novel authored by a former CIA official. Fifteen-year-old Laila lives in a shabby apartment outside of Washington, D.C., with her mother and little brother. She misses her homeland, but return is impossible since her uncle had her father assassinated and took control of the government. "I'm half Here. I'm half There. I'm a girl divided, which is to say I'm no one at all." While her mother schemes with both American officials and rebels from their country to remedy their untenable situation, Laila reluctantly begins to enjoy the simple freedoms of school and friendships. But worrisome thoughts of her mother's secretive phone calls and the mysterious CIA agent who lurks around their apartment are never far from her mind. And how will she ever reconcile what she now knows about her father the dictator with the loving man who raised her? Carleson shrewdly makes what has become a sadly familiar story on the evening news accessible by focusing on the experiences of one innocent girl at the center of it. 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. (author's note, commentary, further reading) (Fiction. 13 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Growing up in an unidentified Middle Eastern country, Laila had no reason to question her parents' narrative-her father was king, and her privileged life was one afforded by birthright. That changes, however, when her father is killed in a coup, and she, her younger brother, and their mother flee the family's palace compound with aid from the U.S. government. Now in a suburb of Washington, DC, the 15-year-old is exposed for the first time to a Western view of both her homeland and father. The news reports of a tyrant whose regime was responsible for atrocities against its people are at odds with her memories of a loving parent. A devastated Laila, realizing that "his was an authority based more on bloodshed than blood right," begins to question all that she's been told. Laila struggles to adjust to American life; Carleson portrays her peers as rather flat in order to underscore Laila's emotional distance from other teens. Although Laila's mother is still embroiled in dealings with the CIA, this smart, complex novel refrains from falling into clandestine spy tropes and deftly shows that innocents get caught on both sides of any conflict. The concluding pages leave Laila's story open-ended, but readers will hope that the teen's good nature continues to prevail.-Amanda Mastrull, School Library Journal

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 Removed from her unnamed Middle Eastern country after her father is murdered during a coup, 15-year-old Laila is now living near Washington D. C. with her mother and brother. In addition to navigating an American high school, Laila tries to act as guardian to her younger brother, Bastien, now the King of Nowhere, and as her mother's spy by getting close to Amir, a teenage boy from her country involved in the resistance. Laila is a strong narrator, expressing her feelings about American dress and social interactions in ways that will get readers thinking. Being raised in the palace, Laila was immune to many of the difficulties of life in her country and never saw her father as a dictator or harsh ruler, raising a very real question about the children of world leaders: Do they see their parents as the world sees them? 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2014
After her father, the king of an unnamed Middle Eastern country, is assassinated, Laila, her mother, and brother find themselves living in a DC suburb, rescued by the CIA from certain death in exchange for Laila's mothers cooperation. The author, a former undercover CIA officer, tells a suspenseful story in which Laila, surrounded by lies, risks everything to do what's right. Reading list, websites.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2014
After her father, the king of an unnamed Middle Eastern country, is assassinated in a coup, fifteen-year-old Laila, her mother, and her younger brother find themselves living in a tiny apartment in a D.C. suburb. They've been escorted there by the CIA officer who rescued them from certain death in exchange for Laila's mother's cooperation. So far, though, the former queen has been less than helpful, and Laila soon suspects that her mother, determined to return home, is in cahoots with her brother-in-law, the very man who killed her husband. The author, a former undercover CIA officer, tells a suspenseful story in which Laila, surrounded by manipulation and lies, risks everything to do the right thing. But the book isn't entirely plot driven. Readers will be intrigued by Laila's culture shock at the "differences between Old Life and New Life" as she walks around town alone and unveiled, attends high school classes, and even goes on dates. Most engrossing, though, is Laila's heartbreaking disbelief at the information she uncovers via library books and the internet -- that her beloved father was not a king at all, but a dictator: "My father had no adoring empire, and his was an authority based more on bloodshed than blood right." Even more anguishing are her interactions with young Amir, another refugee from her country, whose family was decimated during her father's reign. The book's ending will haunt readers, who will feel fully invested in Laila and the difficult future that awaits her. jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)