War Kids **Book Blast and Author Feature**

When fourteen-year-old Jada wakes up in a hospital, the last thing she thinks is that her life has completely changed forever. But when the very real civil war forces her to flee from every open space, she must use the firearm skills her father taught her to reunite with him and protect herself. 

Armed with a single gun and a key to an unknown locker, Jada crosses Syria on a journey with a group of children called the Fearless Freedom Fighters. With the leader, Zak, they mount a plan to rescue their fathers while they try to cope with the merciless murders of their families. As Jada and Zak lead the group together, love blossoms, but with soldiers hot on their tail, they need to stay vigilant in the face of war. 

WAR KIDS - deals with the very real crisis of the ongoing Syrian Civil War through the eyes of young children as they try to stay strong despite the overwhelming presence of death. The novel provides a number of perspectives from young characters as they deal with the deaths of their families, the destruction of their villages and their ongoing need to survive

Hayley Lawson is the author of War Kids. She has written a young adult contemporary novel set in Syria; a story about the Syrian Civil war though the eyes of children. 

She was born in Lancaster, England. Growing up in a single parent household with five other siblings; was hard, and also character building.

As a young child she found a passion for drawing, and continued this into adulthood, graduating from the University of Central Lancashire, England with a BA(Hons) in fashion design.  

At aged twenty seven, Hayley and her husband packed up their belongings for a lifelong dream to move to California. Her America dream was complete with the birth of her daughter. Her love for traveling, continued after the birth of her daughter traveling around America with the family, and the best traveled dog.

A new job positioned opened up New York, and the family decide to relocate to Long Island, NY, which is where she currently resides. 

On August 21 she was moved by the images of the Syrian conflict, and embarked on an unlikely journey of writing her first novel.