Books by Deborah Ellis
MOON AT NINE by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
Released: April 1, 2014
"A harsh introduction to a disturbing moment in Iran's recent history. (Historical fiction. 14-18)"
In a novel based on a true story, two teen girls fall in love and face harsh political fallout in post-revolution Iran. Read full book review >
LOOKS LIKE DAYLIGHT by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
Released: Sept. 10, 2013
"As gay Chippewa 16-year-old Zack puts it, "They tried really hard to kill us all off, and we're still here!"—a welcome and necessary reminder to all. (introductory notes, photos, annotated lists of organizations) (Nonfiction. 12-16)"
In distilled interviews, 45 young Native Americans express hope, resilience, optimism—and, rarely, anger—amid frank accounts of families plagued by drug, alcohol and sexual abuse, as well as murder, suicide, extreme poverty, and widespread discrimination, both public and private. Read full book review >
MY NAME IS PARVANA by Deborah Ellis
Kirkus Star
by Deborah Ellis
Released: Oct. 1, 2012
"Readers will learn much about the war in Afghanistan even as they cheer on this feisty protagonist. (author's note) (Fiction. 11 & up)"
In a follow-up that turns the Breadwinner Trilogy into a quartet, 15-year-old Parvana is imprisoned and interrogated as a suspected terrorist in Afghanistan. Read full book review >
KIDS OF KABUL by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
Released: May 15, 2012
"Necessary. (Nonfiction. 10-14)"
The author of the Breadwinner trilogy turns from fictional Afghani children to real ones. Read full book review >
TRUE BLUE by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
Released: March 15, 2012
"Casey, whose misplaced loyalty indicates startling ignorance of her friend's character, is a bore. Jess—sharply insightful, but selfish and entirely lacking in empathy—may be a piece of work, but she grabs readers' attention and never lets it go. (Fiction. 12 & up)"
Known for powerful tales of social injustice in the developing world, Ellis here offers readers a flawed but gripping character study of teens in small-town Canada. Read full book review >
NO ORDINARY DAY by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
CLASSICS
Released: Sept. 13, 2011
"A true-to-life portrait of a young girl's cheerful selfishness in this surprisingly optimistic novel of unrelenting poverty. (Fiction. 9-11)"
Homeless orphan Valli is always friendly, if amoral. Read full book review >
NO SAFE PLACE by Deborah Ellis
Kirkus Star
by Deborah Ellis
CLASSICS
Released: Sept. 1, 2010
Fifteen-year-old Abdul, an Iraqi Kurd, has escaped war-torn Baghdad and traveled for four months across six countries only to hit a dead-end in the Jungle in Calais, a community of migrants trying to survive in squalid shanties with winter coming. Read full book review >
CHILDREN OF WAR by Deborah Ellis
Kirkus Star
by Deborah Ellis
HISTORY
Released: March 1, 2009

In her previous volume, Off to War: Voices of Soldiers' Children (2008), Ellis interviewed Canadian and American children whose parents were off at war in Iraq or Afghanistan. Read full book review >

LUNCH WITH LENIN by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
FICTION
Released: Nov. 22, 2008

Readers of activist and award-winning Canadian novelist Ellis's novels won't be surprised that the short fiction collected here deals with substance abuse and impoverished peoples in countries large and small. Read full book review >

OFF TO WAR by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
FAMILY AND GROWING UP
Released: Sept. 1, 2008

With 13,500 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and one million American military personnel in Iraq, millions of children on the home front and in the war zones have been affected. Read full book review >

SACRED LEAF by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
FICTION
Released: Nov. 1, 2007

Bolivians have long consumed coca leaves, the raw ingredient in cocaine, as a mild stimulant tea to minimize the effects of hunger and altitude sickness. Read full book review >

JACKAL IN THE GARDEN by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
FICTION
Released: Jan. 1, 2007

A baby girl born with a facial deformity is left to die in the dessert of Persia, but her mother, the number one wife in the harem, rescues the child. Read full book review >

THE HEAVEN SHOP by Deborah Ellis
by Deborah Ellis
FAMILY AND GROWING UP
Released: Sept. 1, 2004

This AIDS-in-Africa story, though occasionally poignant, smacks of intention. Read full book review >