New Releases by Deborah Ellis

An absorbing, emotionally engrossing story about a young Indian girl who has to survive by herself on the streets of Kolkata.

The darker side of a friendship is portrayed by Jess, a seventeen-year-old who struggles to find the moral courage to remain loyal to her best friend Casey who has been accused of murdering an eight year old girl at summer camp. The town becomes a media circus and the pressures far too great for Jess to cope.

After learning that her family adopted her, Valli runs away from home to live on the streets of Kolkata, India, where she begs, steals, and resists help from a doctor who reveals that she has leprosy.

Fifteen-year-old Abdul, having lost everyone he loves, journeys from Baghdad to a migrant community in Calais where he sneaks aboard a boat bound for England, not knowing it carries a cargo of heroin, and when the vessel is involved in a skirmish and the pilot killed, it is up to Abdul and three other young stowaways to complete the journey.

Kids express how they feel about bullies and bullying.

This well-received novel from a cast of acclaimed authors is now available in paperback! A video message from a dead person. A larcenous teenager. A man who can stick his left toe behind his head and in his ear. An epileptic girl seeking answers in a fairy tale. A boy who loses everything in World War II, and his brother who loses even more. And a family with a secret so big that it changes everything. The world''s best beloved authors each contribute a chapter in the life of the mysterious George "Gee" Keane, photographer, soldier, adventurer, and enigma. Under different pens, a startling portrait emerges of a man, his family, and his gloriously complicated tangle of a life.

Deborah Ellis trilogy has been a phenomenal success, both critically and commercially. Now young readers can experience this entire epic story in one volume. "The Breadwinner" is set in Afghanistan, where 11-year-old Parvana lives with her family in a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul. When her father is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, the family is left with no money or resources. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy and become the breadwinner. In "Parvana''s Journey, " her father has died and the family has scattered. Parvana, now 13 years old, is determined to find them. Again masquerading as a boy, she joins a group of wandering children, all refugees from war, who exist mainly on courage. In "Mud City, " the focus shifts to 14-year-old Shauzia, who lives in the Widows'' Compound in Pakistan and dreams of escaping to a new life in France. Deborah Ellis uses simple, compelling language, memorable characters, and a wealth of imaginative detail in this wrenching look at the human cost of war that is also a surprisingly hopeful story of survival."

Two boys become unlikely friends during a dangerous and deadly time in France, and look to each other for survival.

Society of School Librarians International Honor Book Deborah Ellis has been widely praised for her gripping books portraying the plight of children in war-torn countries. Now she turns her attention closer to home, to the children whose parents are soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. In frank and revealing interviews, they talk about how this experience has marked and shaped their lives.The children, who range in age from 7 to 17, come from all over North America. They were interviewed on military bases, in the streets, in their homes and over the phone. The strength of Off to War is that the children are left to speak for themselves, with little editorial interference beyond a brief introduction. Includes a glossary, a list of organizations and websites and suggestions for further reading.

Parvana enterre son père, mort de maladie et d''épuisement. Les taliban contrôlent toujours l''Afghanistan, mais Kaboul est en ruine. Toujours déguisée en garçon, Parvana doit bientôt s''enfuir sous peine d''être livrée aux taliban. Elle quitte donc Kaboul à la recherche de sa mère et de ses sœurs et croise toute une petite bande d''enfants déshérités, auxquels elle va se lier.

Further true-to-life adventures for Diego, a gutsy young Bolivian boy caught between fighting for justice and returning home to his family. A brave, revealing novel from the author of the best-selling ''Parvana'' books. Ages 10-14 years. (SA: Year 6- Year 9)

USBBY Oustanding International Books selection After 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 his ordeal in the jungle. But even that brief respite comes to an end when the army moves in and destroys the family''s coca crop -- and their livelihood. Diego eventually joins the cocaleros as they protest the destruction of their crops by barricading the roads, confronting the army head on. As tension between the cocaleros builds to a dramatic standoff, the wonders whether he will ever find a way to return to his family.

When a Muslim boy is arrested at a high school on suspicion of terrorist affiliations, growing racial tensions divide the student population.

When Jacob DeShawn, an artistic boy who imagines himself as a superhero called Jakeman, and his older sister, Shosana, join other city children for their quarterly visit to their imprisoned mothers, the bus trip leads to unexpected mishaps.

Living with his family in a prison in Bolivia due to his parents'' convictions for drug trafficking, twelve-year-old Diego does his best to live a normal life, but when his mother receives additional fines, Diego risks everything to earn quick money.

Born deformed, Anibus is considered cursed and is left in the desert to die, but after being rescued and raised in secret, she leads a nomadic life, finding acceptance with a colony of artists which includes Kamal al-Din Bihzad, the most famous master ofPersian painting.

Children in Sub-Saharan Africa tell how AIDS has affected their lives.

Deborah Ellis presents the stories of children of the war-torn Middle East, based on interviews with Israeli and Palestinian children. In a rehabilitation center for disabled children, twelve-year-old Nora says she loves the color pink and chewing gum and explains that the wheels of her wheelchair are like her legs. Eleven-year-old Mohammad describes how his house was demolished by soldiers. And we meet twelve-year-old Salam, whose older sister walked into a store in Jerusalem and blew herself up, killing herself and two people, and injuring twenty others. All these children live both ordinary and extraordinary lives. They argue with their siblings. They dream about their wishes for the future. They have also seen their homes destroyed, their families killed, and they live in the midst of constant upheaval and violence. This simple and telling book allows children everywhere to see those caught in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as children just like themselves, but who are living far more difficult, dangerous lives. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6 Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.3 Analyze in detail how a key individual, event, or idea is introduced, illustrated, and elaborated in a text (e.g., through examples or anecdotes). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6 Determine an author''s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

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 him, dies of AIDS. Binti, her sister, and brother are separated and sent to the home of relatives who can barely tolerate their presence. Ostracized by their extended family, the orphans are treated like the lowest servants. With her brother far away and her sister wallowing in her own sorrow, Binti can hardly contain her rage. She, Binti Phirim, was once a child star of a popular radio program. Now she is scraping to survive. Binti always believed she was special, now she is nothing but a common AIDS orphan. Binti Phiri is not about to give up. Even as she clings to hope that her former life will be restored, she must face a greater challenge. If she and her brother and sister are to reunited, Binti Phiri will have to look outside herself and find a new way to be special. Compelling and uplifting, The Heaven Shop, is a contemporary novel that puts a very real face on the African AIDS pandemic, which to-date has orphaned more than 11 million African children. Inspired by a young radio performer the author met during her research visit to Malawi, Binti Phiri is a compelling character that readers will never forget. Awards and Nominations: Ontario Library Association''s Golden Oak Award winner 2006 Winner of the 2005 Jane Addams Children''s Book Award in the category of Honor Books for Older Children Shortlisted for the 2006 Alberta Children''s Choice Book Award A Manitoba Young Readers'' Choice Awards Honour Book for 2006 Foreword Magazine 2004 Book of the Year Award finalist A Children''s Africana Book Awards (CABA) 2005 Honor Book for Older Readers A Canadian Children''s Book Centre Our Choice 2005 Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children''s Book Award for Young Adult/Middle Reader Books finalist Red Maple Book Award nominee 2005

''Watch what you''re doing!'' The angry newspaper seller spat at her. He kicked Jasper. Jasper yelped. Shauzia pulled her dog away. I don''t like it here, Shauzia told Jasper. Shauzia just wanted to sit some place and be quiet, but every time they sat down they were told to go away. Imagine that you''re alone in a foreign city. To eat you must scrounge through rubbish, to sleep you huddle in doorways. Where do you go? Who do you trust? When Shauzia leaves the relative safety of the refugee camp she faces many difficulties. But she has all the spirit and pluck of her friend Parvana, and with the help of her dog Jasper she knows she will fulfill her dreams. Shauzia is a thrilling, thought-provoking companion to the bestselling Parvana, and Parvana''s Journey.

In order to earn enough money to buy her own passage out of the Afghan refugee camp where she lives, Shauzia dresses like a boy, but is forced into panhandling and ends up in jail, gaining hope only when a well-meaning American family rescues her. Reprint.

After her father''s death, Parvana, now thirteen-years-old, continues to search for her mother in war-torn Afghanistan, joining with two younger children who are also struggling to survive.

This is an account of the Afghan War and its tragic aftermath as told by the women who were caught up in it and became its innocent victims. The voices in this oral history will provide personal snapshots to the news reports of the Taliban activities now coming out of Afghanistan. These accounts provide an historical background to the growth of the Taliban, and reveal circumstances of the daily life of the women who must survive in this very closed society. Through the medium of oral history, this book brings to light the stories of the women who have suffered the consequences of the Afghan War and whose lives and whose daughter''s lives have been changed forever. Through the voices of the Soviet women who supported their soldiers on Afghan soil, and the voices of the Afghan women scattered by circumstance around the globe, the last Cold War battle between the superpowers takes on a very personal tone. Policy decisions issued from on high became the rockets that destroyed these women physically, mentally, and emotionally. Children were killed or maimed and homes and families destroyed. Ultimately, these women were forced to flee or become invisible within their homeland. The Taliban militia rose from the dust of this war and by government decree reduced even the most educated and influential of the women to non-person status.