Elizabeth Smart Popular Books
Elizabeth Smart Biography & Facts
Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee, held Smart captive for nine months until she was rescued by police officers on a street in Sandy, Utah. Smart has since gone on to work as an activist and advocate for missing persons. Her life and abduction have been the subject of numerous non-fiction books and films. Early life Elizabeth Ann Smart was born on November 3, 1987, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Edward "Ed" and Lois Smart. Her family was part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is the second-oldest child in her family; she has four brothers and one sister. Smart attended Bryant Middle School and East High School in Salt Lake City. She later enrolled in Brigham Young University, where she earned her Bachelor of Music in harp performance. Kidnapping On June 5, 2002, 14-year-old Smart was abducted at knifepoint from her bedroom in her family's house in Salt Lake City, Utah. For the next nine months, she was raped daily, tied up, and threatened with death if she attempted to escape. She was rescued by police officers on March 12, 2003, on a public street in Sandy, Utah, 18 miles (29 km) from her home. Two witnesses recognized abductors Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Ileen Barzee from an America's Most Wanted episode. On November 16, 2009, Barzee pled guilty to assisting in the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors. On May 19, 2010, federal Judge Dale A. Kimball sentenced Barzee to 15 years in federal prison. As part of a plea deal between the defense and federal prosecutors, he gave Barzee credit for seven years that she had already served. The court found Mitchell competent to stand trial for kidnapping and sexual assault charges. He was found guilty on both counts and sentenced in May 2011 to two life terms in federal prison. Activism and media coverage On March 8, 2006, Smart spoke before the United States Congress to support sexual predator legislation and the AMBER Alert system. On July 26, 2006, she spoke at an event held following the signing of the Adam Walsh Act. Smart was one of five recovered young adults who contributed entries to the 2008 book You're Not Alone, which was published by the U.S. Department of Justice. She appeared at a May 2008 event promoting the book. In 2009, Smart commented on the kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard. She shared that, in her own experience of recovering from trauma, she had found dwelling on the past to be unproductive. In October 2009, Smart spoke at the 2009 Women's Conference in California (hosted by Maria Shriver) on the topic of overcoming obstacles in life. In 2011, Smart founded the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which aims to bring hope and end the victimization and exploitation of sexual assault through prevention, recovery, and advocacy. In March 2011, Smart was one of four women awarded the Diane von Furstenberg Award. On July 7, 2011, ABC News announced that she would work as a commentator for them, mainly focusing on missing persons. In July 2012, Theta Phi Alpha National Fraternity honored Smart with the Siena Medal award. The medal is the highest honor the organization bestows upon a non-member. They named it after their patroness, St. Catherine of Siena. On May 1, 2013, in a speech at a human trafficking conference at Johns Hopkins University, Smart discussed the need to emphasize individual self-worth in fighting human trafficking and the importance of dispelling cultural myths surrounding girls' loss of value upon sexual contact. Having been raped by her captor, she recalled the destructive impact of exposure to abstinence-only sexual education programs. Many of them teach that a sexually active girl is akin to a chewed piece of gum. "I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, I'm that chewed up piece of gum, nobody re-chews a piece of gum, you throw it away.' And that's how easy it is to feel like you no longer have worth, you no longer have value," Smart said. "Why would it even be worth screaming out? Why would it even make a difference if you are rescued? Your life still has no value." Smart went on to ask that listeners educate children on having self-worth, avoiding viewing themselves as victims. In February 2014, Smart testified before the Utah State House of Representatives in favor of HB 286. The bill would create an optional curriculum for use in Utah schools to provide training on child sexual abuse prevention. In early 2015, Faith Counts featured Smart in a video in which she explains how her religion sustained her through her ordeal and helped her heal. As of September 2016, Smart is a correspondent for the true-crime show Crime Watch Daily. Various state politicians have proposed bills that would require all computers to have a pornography filter, branding it the "Elizabeth Smart Law." However, in March 2018, her spokesman denied her relationship to the proposal. Her lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to the politicians in which they were ordered not to use her name. On June 5, 2017, on the 15th anniversary of her abduction, Lifetime aired the made-for-TV film titled I Am Elizabeth Smart, narrated and produced by Smart, which tells the story of her kidnapping from her perspective. The film starred Alana Boden as Elizabeth Smart, Skeet Ulrich as Brian David Mitchell, Deirdre Lovejoy as Wanda Ileen Barzee, George Newbern as Ed Smart, and Anne Openshaw as Lois Smart. In 2018, Smart published Where There's Hope: Healing, Moving Forward, and Never Giving Up with St. Martin's Press. Her abduction and rescue were widely reported and were the subject of a made-for-TV movie, The Elizabeth Smart Story, Lifetime's I Am Elizabeth Smart and non-fiction books. In October 2013, My Story, a memoir of Smart's experience co-written with Chris Stewart, was published by St. Martin's Press. The book details both Smart's kidnapping and the formation of the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, which works to promote awareness about abductions. Smart has played the harp on national television in the United States. Smart's uncle, Tom Smart, and author Lee Benson wrote a book about the search for Smart, In Plain Sight: The Startling Truth Behind the Elizabeth Smart Investigation. Her father wrote another book about Smart's kidnapping, called Bringing Elizabeth Home. A television movie, The Elizabeth Smart Story, was made in 2003, based on the book by Smart's father. In 2021, Smart competed on The Masked Dancer as "Moth". She was eliminated during the third episode of the series, placing eighth overall in the competition. In 2022, Elizabeth Smart was the executive producer of the Lifetime movie Stolen by Their Father as part of its "Ripped From the Headlines" feature film which talked about Lizbeth Meredith's plans to reclaim her daughters after bein.... Discover the Elizabeth Smart popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Elizabeth Smart books.
Best Seller Elizabeth Smart Books of 2024
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This Happy
Niamh Campbell'A beautiful, wry love story' David Nicholls, author of ONE DAY 'I love this woman's writing. Golden sentences' Diana Evans, author of ORDINARY PEOPLE 'One of the year's most b...
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The June Boys
Court StevensFrom awardwinning and highly acclaimed author Court Stevens comes a gripping, emotional story of small towns, rumors, and thirteen missing boys.The Gemini Thief could be anyone.For...
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The Stornoway Way
Kevin Macneil‘Fk everyone from Holden Caulfield to Bridget Jones, fk all the American and English phoney fictions that claim to speak for us; they don’t know the likes of us exist and they neve...
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My Story
Elizabeth Smart & Chris StewartThe harrowing true story of abduction and survival from the courageous young woman who lived itnow the subject of a Lifetime original movie, I Am Elizabeth Smart.In this memoir, El...
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The Great and the Terrible
Joanne O'Sullivan & Udayana LugoThis fun, quirky, and engaging fully illustrated history anthology features twentyfive amazing and terrifying rulers for middle grade readers to discover.We've heard of Alexander t...
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Gone
Chelsea CainFrom the author of the critically acclaimed Archie Sheridan and Gretchen Lowell thrillers, here is a heartstopping ride that Cheryl Strayed (author of #1 New York Times bestseller ...
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A Highland Rogue to Ruin
E. Elizabeth WatsonFor fans of Diana Gabaldon and Scarlett Scott comes a story of warring clans, illicit longing…and the brutish Highlander who risks it all.Known as the “Demon of the Seas,” Tormund ...
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Bringing Elizabeth Home
Ed Smart & Lois SmartAt 3:58 in the morning of June 5, 2002, Ed and Lois Smart awoke to the sound of their nineyearold daughter Mary Katherine’s frightened voice. “She’s gone. Elizabeth is gone.” At ...
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Unexpected
Chris Thomas & Elizabeth SmartThe backstory of finding Elizabeth Smart and how growing up in the Mormon culture pushed the author to develop the exact kind of intuition that was needed to help manage Elizabeth’...
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The Arms of the Infinite
Christopher BarkerThe Arms of the Infinite takes the reader inside the minds of author Christopher Barker’s parents, writer Elizabeth Smart (By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept) and poet Ge...
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The Johns
Victor MalarekEach year, more than 800,000 women and children are lured, tricked, or forced into prostitution to meet an apparently insatiable demand, joining an estimated 10 million women alrea...
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The Smart Words and Wicked Wit of William Shakespeare
Max Morris“Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit,” said the world’s greatest and most preeminent English writer of all time, William Shakespeare.Have you ever wanted to quote the most quot...
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Notes from the Henhouse
Elspeth BarkerA sharp and witty collection of autobiographical essays by the late Elspeth Barkeracclaimed journalist and author of the beloved modern classic O Caledonia.Following the publicatio...
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Rage Becomes Her
Soraya ChemalyA BEST BOOK OF 2018 SELECTION NPR The Washington Post Book Riot Autostraddle Psychology Today A BEST FEMINIST BOOK SELECTION Refinery 29, Book Riot, Autostraddle, BITCH Rage Be...
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Witness
Louise MilliganA masterful and deeply troubling exposé, Witness is the culmination of almost five years' work for awardwinning investigative journalist Louise Milligan. Charting the experiences o...
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The Space Between
Zara Mcdonald & Michelle AndrewsThere’s this weird gap in life that’s fuelled by cheap tacos and even cheaper tequila – also known as our twenties. It’s a specific limbo between being a teenager and a Proper Adul...
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The Lost Girls
John GlattNew York Times bestselling crime writer John Glatt tells the true story behind the kidnappings and longoverdue rescue of three women found in a Cleveland basement.The Lost Girls te...
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The Importance Of Ernestine
Elizabeth DunkLove isn't easy in the cutthroat world of Australian politics...Cecily Carter and Gwen Fairford have both started a fantastic new life in Canberra – jobs they love, a fabulous frie...
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In Plain Sight
Tom Smart & Lee BensonThis riveting inside story of the intense search for the Salt Lake City teenager reveals neverbeforetold details of the largest investigation in Utah state history. The firsthand a...
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The Disappearance of Elizabeth Smart
Ruth KantonAt around 2 a.m. on June 5, 2002, Elizabeth was woken up by a male voice whispering in her ear "I have a gun at your throat. Don't make a sound. Get up and come with me." When she ...
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I Have the Right To
Chessy Prout“A bold, new voice.” People “A nuanced addition to the #MeToo conversation.” ViceA young survivor tells her searing, visceral story of sexual assault, justice, and healing in this ...
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We Were Young
Niamh Campbell'Witty, fiery, wistful and even shocking, with engrossing heady prose, Campbell's style is unique' Irish Independent'An immensely enjoyable novel, and a great validation of Campbel...