Deborah Ellis Books in Order

Khyber dreams of exploring the world while helping her mother care for her autistic twin brothers. When their family’s fragile stability is threatened, she must navigate her city and confront the problems that could pull the people she loves apart.

After Taliban soldiers imprison her father, Parvana’s family faces starvation because women cannot leave home alone. Disguising herself as a boy, she ventures into Kabul to earn money, risking discovery while encountering the dangers that surround ordinary Afghan life.

Afghan and Soviet women recount their experiences of war and its aftermath. Their testimonies explore bereavement, displacement, and the restrictions imposed on women as the Taliban gains power, revealing how political conflict reshapes ordinary lives.

Quiet Henri’s life at a French abbey changes when mischievous Micah arrives with a remarkable singing voice. As plague spreads, the boys travel with performers bringing laughter to frightened communities, testing their friendship and courage against growing devastation.

Parvana crosses war-torn Afghanistan disguised as a boy, searching for her missing family. Other displaced children join her, forming an improvised family whose survival depends on cooperation, imagination, and luck as bombs fall and the countryside becomes increasingly dangerous.

Shauzia escapes Afghanistan but finds herself trapped in a crowded Pakistani refugee camp. Dreaming of France, she leaves to earn money on Peshawar’s streets, discovering that determination and disguise offer only limited protection against the dangers facing homeless children.

After her mother’s death, ten-year-old Keeley moves with her father to a new Alberta mining town. Friendship and mischief make the fresh start exciting, but a dare to spend a night underground reveals a frightening side of her new home.

Binti’s life as a radio performer in Malawi collapses when AIDS leaves her orphaned. Determined to stay with her brother and sister, she must look beyond her former status and find new ways to care for herself and others.

Palestinian and Israeli children describe everyday life amid violence, restrictions, and family loss. Their accounts connect ordinary interests and hopes with the realities of conflict, offering a view of how war shapes childhood and expectations for the future.

Aspiring reporter Keeley investigates missing household objects in her Alberta town. Her search intersects with a teacher’s strange behavior, women’s protests, and confusing news of war, challenging her to make sense of the adult world and find her story.

Children in sub-Saharan Africa describe life after AIDS has taken parents and other relatives. Their accounts explore who cares for orphaned children, the responsibilities they shoulder, and the ways they sustain hope amid poverty and bereavement.

Twelve-year-old Diego lives with his imprisoned parents in Bolivia, earning money by running errands outside the prison. A friend’s promise of quick riches leads him into forced labor in the jungle, where he must find a way home.

Keeley prepares her newspaper and practices for a spelling competition as her mining town grows. A devastating landslide suddenly turns those everyday plans into a struggle for survival, leaving her desperate to learn whether her missing father is alive.

A school lockdown and a Muslim student's arrest expose deep divisions among classmates. Afghan Canadian Haroon and white football player Jay offer contrasting perspectives as suspicion, prejudice, and conflicting loyalties threaten their school's fragile sense of community.

After escaping forced labor, Diego works on a Bolivian farm to earn his journey home. When soldiers destroy the farmers’ legal coca crop, their protests draw him into a struggle between protecting his own future and fighting injustice.

Jake and his sister travel to visit their imprisoned mother, hoping his letters might win her release. When their adult escorts fall ill and their driver abandons the children, the group takes control of a journey that exposes their frustration with authority.

Orphaned by a rockslide, Keeley travels to Winnipeg seeking the reporter who encouraged her ambitions. Finding shelter proves easier than finding newspaper work, forcing her to reconsider where she belongs and how she can pursue the future she wants.

Children in communities around the world face the effects of drugs on their families and futures. These stories follow young people from remote northern settlements to Moscow and Afghan farms as they navigate pressures adults cannot always protect them from.

Children of North American soldiers discuss having parents deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Their interviews reveal how separation, fear, and military life affect home and school, allowing young people to explain experiences often overshadowed by adults’ accounts of war.

Young Iraqi refugees recount leaving their homes and attempting to rebuild their lives in Jordan and North America. Their testimonies describe financial hardship, illness, displacement, and the threat of deportation alongside the resilience of children facing uncertain futures.

Children and teenagers describe bullying and assess how adults respond to it. Their accounts explore fear, anger, failed protections, and effective help, while discussion questions encourage readers to consider how schools and individuals can support victims and prevent abuse.

An Iraqi teenager fleeing war joins a dangerous boat crossing to England. Stranded with other young refugees, he must overcome mistrust and work with children carrying their own traumatic histories as they seek shelter and evade the authorities.

Valli leaves an Indian coal town after discovering the people raising her are not her relatives. Living resourcefully on Kolkata’s streets, she encounters a doctor whose diagnosis forces her to confront the disease she has always feared and the possibility of help.

When her closest friend is accused of murdering a young camper, Jess believes she is innocent. Unwanted attention and mounting doubts test that loyalty, while the events of their summer force her to examine her own conduct and responsibility.

Afghan children describe their lives a decade after the Taliban’s fall. Their interviews reveal continuing violence and restrictions, especially for girls, alongside efforts to gain education, enjoy childhood, and pursue ambitions in a country still shaped by war.

American troops detain fifteen-year-old Parvana after finding her in a bombed school. Refusing to speak, she recalls her family’s efforts to educate girls and the threats they faced, while her captors try to decide whether she is a terrorist.

Indigenous children across North America discuss their daily lives, interests, families, and identities. Their interviews explore discrimination, foster care, artistic traditions, and personal ambitions, showing how cultural belonging and difficult circumstances shape their understanding of the world.

Two teenage girls at a Tehran school fall in love while navigating family secrets and political repression. Their relationship exposes them to a government that criminalizes homosexuality, forcing them to confront danger while trying to protect each other.

A self-centered girl reborn as a cat discovers a Palestinian child hiding in a house occupied by Israeli soldiers. As neighbors gather and military tensions rise, she must decide whether to intervene in a conflict she barely understands.

Nine children face difficult circumstances while seated in factories, homes, institutions, and unfamiliar places. Each story turns on a choice, following young people who find ways to act despite family turmoil, exploitation, confinement, or uncertainty about their futures.

Young people involved in the criminal justice system recount the experiences that brought them there. Their stories connect family disruption, poverty, addiction, and discrimination with questions about punishment, support, and whether detention helps children build better futures.

A distressed teenager in Guyana is arrested after vandalizing a shop, then encounters ancestors who died by suicide. As they try to help him break a family pattern, a vanished museum sloth introduces an unexpected possibility of connection.

When the Taliban return to power in Afghanistan, Parvana and Shauzia face renewed danger. A runaway girl finds refuge at Parvana’s school, but its students must flee into the mountains as their hopes for safety unravel.

Young people approaching adolescence face decisions that test their independence, kindness, and courage. These stories follow children through unfamiliar situations, prejudice, and ethical mistakes, exploring how small choices can change their understanding of themselves and others.

Twelve-year-old Kate opens a philosophy booth to earn money while waiting for her absent mother to return. Her customers’ problems and her grandmother’s secrets force her to confront anger, mistrust, and the unexpected people who might help her.