Deborah Ellis

Author Information
Deborah Ellis's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    31 Books (2 Series)
  • First Book:
    July 2001
  • Latest Book:
    August 2024
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Full Series List in Order

Breadwinner

1 - The Breadwinner (Oct-2001)
2 - Parvana's Journey (Jul-2003)
3 - Mud City (Aug-2003)
4 - My Name Is Parvana (Sep-2012)
5 - One More Mountain (Oct-2022)

The Cocalero Novels

I Am a Taxi (Oct-2006)
Sacred Leaf (Nov-2007)

Book List in Order: 31 titles

  • Looking for X

    Winner of the Governor General's Literary AwardIn this urban adventure story, Khyber, a smart, bold, eleven-year-old girl from a poor neighborhood, sets out to find her friend X, a mysterious homeless woman who has gone missing.The desperate search t...

  • The Breadwinner

    Breadwinner - 1

    PARVANA felt the shadow before she saw it, as the man moved between her and the sun. Turning her head, she saw the dark turban that was the uniform of the Taliban. A rifle was slung across his chest as casually as her father's shoulder bag had been s...

  • Parvana's Journey

    Breadwinner - 2

    The second book in the internationally-bestselling series that includes The Breadwinner, Mud City and My Name Is ParvanaIn 2001, a war is raging in Afghanistan as a coalition of Western forces tries to oust the Taliban by bombing the country. Pa...

  • Mud City

    Breadwinner - 3

    The third book in the internationally bestselling series that includes The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey and My Name Is Parvana.Parvana’s best friend, Shauzia, has escaped the misery of her life in Kabul, only to end up in a ...

  • The Heaven Shop


    There is a lion in our village, and it is carrying away our children.

    At her father's funeral, Binti's grandmother utters the words that no one in Malawi wants to hear. Binti's father and her mother before...

  • I Am a Taxi

    The Cocalero Novels

    Winner of the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award For twelve-year-old Diego and his family, home is a prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents farmed coca, a traditional Bolivian medicinal plant, until they got caught in the middle of th...

  • Jackal in the Garden

    The first Art Encounters title to feature art outside the Western canon



    Little is known about the fifteenth-century Persian painter Bizhad--we only know that he worked in what is now Afghanistan and Iran, and that he was the first arti...

  • Jakeman

    Diamond Willow Award nominee, 2008

    Silver Birch Fiction shortlist, 2007

    CLA Children's Book of the Year Award 2008 shortlist

    VOYA's Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers list, 2007

    Hackmatack Children's Choic...

  • Bifocal

    Two bestselling authors join forces to write a powerful novel about racism.A student arrested on suspicions of terrorism. A high school torn apart by racism. Two boys from two different sets of circumstances forced to choose sides.These are the issue...



  • Sacred Leaf

    The Cocalero Novels

    USBBY Oustanding International Books selectionAfter he finally manages to escape from being a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation, Diego is taken in by the Ricardo family -- poor coca farmers who provide a safe haven while he recovers from ...

  • Lunch with Lenin and Other Stories

    On Resource Link's Best of 2008 List

    On the Cooperative Children's Book Center Best-of-the-Year list for 2009

    Canadian Children's Book Centre Our Choice, 2009 Starred Choice

    Ontario Library Association's Golden Oak Award n...

  • In From the Cold

    Rose and her daughter Hazel are on the run in a big city. During the day, Rose and Hazel live in a shack hidden in the bushes. At night, they look for food in garbage bins. In the summer, living in the shack was like an adventure for Hazel. But now, ...

  • No Safe Place

    Finalist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book AwardOrphaned and plagued with the grief of losing everyone he loves, fifteen-year-old Abdul has made a long, fraught journey from his war-torn home in Baghdad, only to end up in The Jungle --...

  • No Ordinary Day

    Shortlisted for the SYRCA 2013 Diamond Willow Award, selected as an American Library Association 2012 Notable Children's Book, a Booklist Editors' Choice, nominated for the OLA Golden Oak Tree Award, and a finalist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Ch...

  • True Blue

    When Casey is arrested for murder, her best friend Jess is certain the police have made a terrible mistake. And she should know; after all, she and Casey were camp counselors together and both responsible for the little girl who disappeared. But even...

  • My Name Is Parvana

    Breadwinner - 4

    The fourth book in the internationally bestselling series that includes The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey and Mud City.In this stunning sequel, Parvana, now fifteen, is found in a bombed-out school and held as a suspected terrorist by American tro...

  • The Clear-Out

    Duncan is very angry. Tess, his wife, has turned their dining room into a library. For forty years, she says, she has cleaned the house while he sat in front of the TV. Now she deserves a room of her own.
    Then disaster strikes: Tess gets sick, a...

  • Moon at Nine

    Based on interviews with a young woman forced to flee Iran because of her sexual orientation, Moon at Nine is a tense and riveting novel that shines a light on an issue of social injustice that continues to this day.Fifteen-year-old Farrin has grown ...

  • The Cat at the Wall

    A remarkable and thought-provoking new novel set on Israel’s West Bank, by the author of The Breadwinner.On Israel’s West Bank, a cat sneaks into a small Palestinian house that has just been commandeered by two Israeli soldiers. The house se...



  • Sit

    Nine poignant and empowering short stories from the author of The Breadwinner.The seated child. With a single powerful image, Deborah Ellis draws our attention to nine children and the situations they find themselves in, often through no fault of the...

  • The Breadwinner Graphic Novel

    This beautiful graphic-novel adaptation of The Breadwinner animated film tells the story of eleven-year-old Parvana who must disguise herself as a boy to support her family during the Taliban''s rule in Afghanistan.Parvana lives with her family in on...

  • The Greats

    With the unexpected help of a giant prehistoric sloth, ghostly grandfathers return to help a suicidal teenager.Winning a national high-school geography competition should be the high point of Jomon’s life. So why does he find himself running throug...

  • The Best Day of My Life

  • Diego! Run

  • Diego's Pride

  • Parvana: A Graphic Novel

  • Parvana's Promise

  • Shauzia

  • Step

    In this powerful collection of short stories, children around the world turn eleven and take a step into their futures. Each one is changed in ways both big and small.Annoyed at having to walk his sister’s dog on his birthday, Connor heads into an ...



  • One More Mountain

    Breadwinner - 5

    It’s 2021, and the Taliban have regained power in Afghanistan. Parvana and Shauzia, the brave protagonists of The Breadwinner, must now flee to escape new dangers from an old enemy.In Kabul, 15-year-old Damsa runs away to avoid being forced into ma...

  • The Outsmarters

    What can you do when the adult world lets you down? Suspended from school and prone to rages, twelve-year-old Kate finds her own way to get on with her life, despite the messed-up adults around her. Her gran, for one, is stubborn and aloof -- not u...

Award-Winning Books by Deborah Ellis

No Ordinary Day
2013 West Virginia Children's Book Award -- Children's
Parvana's Journey
2003 Jane Addams Children's Book Award -- Books for Older Children


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Deborah Ellis has published 31 books.

Deborah Ellis does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, The Outsmarters, was published in August 2024.

The first book by Deborah Ellis, Looking for X, was published in July 2001.

Yes. Deborah Ellis has 2 series.
Author Series
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