Children's Book World

About Laurie Morrison

Laurie Morrison teaches middle school English and writes middle grade novels. Laurie is the coauthor of Every Shiny Thing and the author of Up for Air, Saint Ivy, Coming Up Short, and Keeping Pace. Her books have received starred reviews and have been chosen as Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections and finalists for state award lists. Laurie holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she lives with her family in Philadelphia.

About Where Ella Went

Why did Ella leave?

Eighth Graders Sadie and Pug don’t have anything in common except for their love of soccer and their loyalty to Ella, the overachieving team captain. So when Ella doesn’t show up for the most important game of the season and her parents pull her out of school, Sadie and Pug are determined to find out what happened, even though they don’t usually get along. There’s no way Ella abandoned the team!

But as Sadie and Pug dig deeper, they begin to realize that Ella’s life wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. And maybe Sadie and Pug have a few secrets that need to come to light, too. Maybe all their classmates do…

Told in recordings, letters, texts, journal entries, and emails, Where Ella Went is a funny and absorbing slice-of-life mystery about friendship, teamwork, and the pressures of being in middle school.