Ms. Gutestein
Deborah Ellis Deborah Ellis started writing at age 11-12 inspired at a young age she grasped her talent. As a kid she was constantly moving from place to place due to her father’s work, and used writing as a coping method. When she grew up, her work and writing was mainly done by traveling and talking to others that have problems and taking note of everything. She started to write the book I am currently the Breadwinner her first book. The Breadwinner takes place in Afghanistan and the main character at only 12 years old is faced with the discrimination against women when her father is arrested by the Taliban and with no other way of providing for her family she dresses up as a boy and tries to find work. Coincidentally Ellis traveled to Afghanistan in 1997 to interview women located in refugee camps. These interviews helped her write her four part series of The Breadwinner. Her writing of this book was inspired by an interview with a mother living in one of the refugee camps. Ellis has become considered of the most beloved young adult writers today as well as being a philanthropist who donates almost all of her profit’s from her books to organizations like “UNICEF” and “Women for Women in Afghanistan”. Deborah Ellis is a very motivated person who feels strongly for the rights of women and takes that inspiration and uses it to write compelling stories. Of all the books she has wrote which has come to 18 in total, all of them have been moving stories of injustices. Deborah Ellis has achieved international recognition with her incredibly dramatic books that give readers a glimpse into the life of children in far out developing countries. Ellis has won the Governor General's Award, Sweden's Peter Pan Prize, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California's Middle East Book Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. Deborah Ellis constantly finds new ways to express her feelings about the