Laura Malone Elliott is the author of the award-winning Hunter's Best Friend at School , Hunter's Big Sister , and Hunter and Stripe and the Soccer Showdown , also illustrated by Lynn Munsinger, as well as books for older readers (written as L. M. Elliott), including the highly praised Under A War-Torn Sky ; its sequel, A Troubled Peace ; Flying South ; Annie, Between the States ; and Give Me Liberty . She lives in Virginia with her husband and their two children.