The Breadwinner

Deborah Ellis is the author of the international bestseller The Breadwinner, which has been published in twenty-five languages. She has won the Governor General's Award, the Middle East Book Award, the Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. A recipient of the Order of Canada, Deborah has donated more than 2 million in royalties to organizations such as Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, UNICEF and Street KidsInternational. Deborah has spent a lot of time in Pakistan, in Afghan refugee camps, talking to women and documenting their lives under 20 years of war. She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.

"It answers the question; What's it like to be an Afghan child?It makes it clear that Afghans aren't the enemy, that children all over the world hate helping with the washing up, whether they are starving or not. It allows children to draw their own conclusions about why we are fighting. Most importantly, it humanises the war . . . it deserves to become a bestseller . . ."