In addition to global issues explored in The Breadwinner and The Heaven Shop, which focuses on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Malawi, she tells local stories in books such as Looking for X, which addresses day-to-day life in a poverty-stricken area of Toronto. Her novels tend to focus on people the media neglect. Its 2017 film adaptation, executive produced by Angelina Jolie and directed by Nora Twomey, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.Įllis is the Canadian author of over 30 books and an activist who is very committed to anti-war causes. Frequently selected as assigned reading for middle school students, The Breadwinner won the Peter Pan Award and the Middle East Book Award. Her book Women of the Afghan War is the outgrowth of her conversations with women in the refugee camps, and her interviews with children there prompted her to write The Breadwinner. Prior to beginning the series, Ellis spent several months interviewing Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Four sequels followed it: Parvana’s Journey Mud City My Name is Parvana and One More Mountain. Exploring themes of human connection, maturation and bravery, and the repression of women, The Breadwinner was critically acclaimed upon its release and has had over 40 print runs in the United States alone.

It centers on an 11-year-old girl named Parvana who, due to her family’s circumstances, is forced to defy the Taliban and their repressive laws to become the breadwinner for her family. The Breadwinner, also known as Parvana, is a 2000 children’s novel by Canadian author and activist Deborah Ellis.

The breadwinner by deborah ellis