Deborah Ellis Archives

A Palestine Reader, Part I: Books for Youth [in The Booklist Reader]

28 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Arab, Arab American, British, Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Lists, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Palestinian, Palestinian American, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The unrelenting conflict between Palestine and Israel keeps the Middle East in the news. But for a fuller picture of the Palestinian and Palestinian American experience than what the media can provide, here's a starter reading list for young people. Stay tuned for our list of titles about...

The Refugee Experience for Middle Grade and YA Readers [in The Booklist Reader]

13 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Afghan, African, Arab, Biography, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Caribbean, Cuban, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Iranian, Iranian American, Iraqi, Italian, Lists, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Myanmarese (Burmese), Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Poetry, Repost, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Vietnamese, Vietnamese American, Young Adult Readers

This is the second in a two-part series of recommended books for youth about the refugee experience. For a list of picture books, click here. Canada, with her groovin' President, functional healthcare system, and more welcoming borders, is currently in the throes of "Month 13," the first month following...

Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis

21 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Fiction, Iranian, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

At 15, Farrin is the privileged only child in a tense, unhappy, albeit very wealthy family. Her father runs a construction company that takes advantage of illegal, desperate Afghan workers to make big profits. As successful as he might be, Farrin's mother continuously laments that she has...

Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids by Deborah Ellis, foreword by Loriene Roy

28 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Deborah Ellis has a doubly powerful schtick: first, her nonfiction titles give underrepresented children a highly visible podium for their very own words (Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak, Off to War: Voices of Soldiers’ Children, Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees, Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through...

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis

24 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Iraqi, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Bestselling Canadian anti-war activist Deborah Ellis’s four nonfiction titles (thus far) for younger readers should be bundled together and sent to every policymaker throughout the world. Two of those four, Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War and Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak, give voice to children living...

Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis

18 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Israeli, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Palestinian, Young Adult Readers

Given the latest headlines in the Middle East, this seems to be the perfect time for another Deborah Ellis title. Best known for her Breadwinner Trilogy (The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey, and Mud City) which became a tetralogy this fall with My Name is Parvana, Ellis is an...

My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis

20 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Afghan, Canadian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

What delighted anticipation I felt when I heard that Deborah Ellis' multi-award-winning Breadwinner Trilogy (The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey, and Mud City), after almost a decade since its completion, was becoming a tetrology! I adamantly hoped for such at the end of my Mud City post:...

Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis

07 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Afghan, Canadian, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Mega-award-winning author Deborah Ellis’s active interest in Afghanistan began in 1996 when she heard about the Taliban takeover of that country "and the crimes they perpetrated against women and girls." She became involved with the Afghan communities in her native Canada, then traveled to meet...

No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis

28 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Fiction, Indian, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Canadian author Deborah Ellis has harnessed the power of words to create miraculous results: her multi-award-winning Breadwinner Trilogy (The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey, and Mud City) has raised over a million dollars in royalties for Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and Street Kid International. With her...

Mud City by Deborah Ellis

09 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Afghan, Canadian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

The final installment of Canadian activist/author Deborah Ellis' award-winning Breadwinner Trilogy follows Shauzia, Parvana's best friend from The Breadwinner, in which both girls survived by cross-dressing as young boys, working to provide for their shuttered-in families in Taliban-controlled Kabul. While Parvana's desperate odyssey to reunite with her family...

Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis

08 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Afghan, Canadian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

The second part of Canadian anti-war activist Deborah Ellis' lauded Breadwinner Trilogy continues with Parvana's odyssey to reunite with her surviving family. Parvana and her recently released father leave Kabul at the end of The Breadwinner, determined to find Parvana's mother, older sister, younger sister, and toddler...

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

06 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Afghan, Canadian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

When Parvana’s gentle father is suddenly beaten without cause and locked away for being an educated citizen, her family is left without a means to support themselves. Under Taliban rule, women are forbidden in Kabul to leave the house unless fully covered and accompanied by...

BookDragon Deborah Ellis Tag

The Refugee Experience for Middle Grade and YA Readers [in The Booklist Reader]

Moon at Nine by Deborah Ellis

Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids by Deborah Ellis, foreword by Loriene Roy

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis

Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis

My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis

Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis

No Ordinary Day by Deborah Ellis

Mud City by Deborah Ellis

Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

Smithsonian Institution
Asian Pacific American Center

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