Teenagers Marta and Kevork had become separated from one another in the year following the Armenian genocide in Turkey. They had fallen in love during the chaos and terror, and had promised they would find one another if they ever became separated. Now, in 1916, they are each determined to fulfill that promise. Kevork finds himself disguising his Armenian identity as he passes as an Arab in the Syrian market where he works. He is desperate to find a way back to his betrothed—back to the orphanage where he and Marta met—and a covert job helping other refugees offers him the opportunity he’s been looking for. What he doesn’t know is that Marta was forced to leave the orphanage and live as a Muslim woman, married to a Turkish man. Now pregnant, she has been left at the orphanage gates once more by the First Wife of her husband, who wants to rid her household of other heirs. Now Marta lives in anticipation and agony—anxious to reunite with her nearby sister and desperate to know if Kevork will ever return. And if he does, will he still accept her, let alone her child? Told in alternating third-person narratives, this sweeping story of love, loss, horror, and hope recounts two teens’ journeys during a dramatic historical episode. A map and historical note provide accessible context for readers to navigate the terrain of this haunting yet beautiful novel. (Age 14 and older)

UAE National Chapter of the IBBY was officially announced in October 2009. The UAE Chapter of IBBY aims to promote understanding and to facilitate the exchange of information through children’s books and to en courage and develop a wide array of literary and artistic works for children.

ALA Best Books for Young Adults 2009 nominee

On the 2009 USBBY list of Outstanding International Books

White Pine nominee, 2009

On Resource Link's Best of 2008 List

On the Cooperative Children's Book Center Best-of-the-Year list for 2009

Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2009

Teenagers Kevork and his betrothed Marta are the lucky ones. They have managed so far to survive the Armenian genocide in Turkey, and both are disguised as Muslims. But Marta is still in Turkey, pregnant with another man's child. And Kevork is living as an Arab in Syria.

Kevork yearns to get back into Turkey and search for Marta, but with the war raging and the genocide still in progress, the journey will be impossibly dangerous. Meanwhile, Marta worries that even if Kevork has survived and they are reunited, will he be able to accept what she has become? And what has happened to her sister, Mariam, who was sold as a slave to the highest bidder?

Daughter of War is a gripping story of enduring love and loyalty set against the horrors of Turkey during World War I.