Produktdetaljer
Biografisk notat
DEBORAH ELLIS is the author of The Breadwinner, which has been published in 30 languages and made into an Oscar-nominated film. 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 Right to Learn Afghanistan, Mental Health Without Borders and UNHCR. She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.<p>“Beautifully wrought, the collection will appeal to thoughtful readers who appreciate Ellis' other globally-aware works … An excellent choice for all collections.” — <strong><em>Booklist, STARRED REVIEW</em></strong></p>
<p>“Ellis nimbly slips into the minds of her memorable characters … and her thought-provoking collection should spark wide-ranging discussions about choice and injustice.” — <strong><em>Publishers Weekly</em></strong></p>
<p>“Every story is poignant and provocative. Ellis writes with deep compassion and intuitiveness.” — <strong><em>School Library Journal</em></strong></p>
<p>“… the collection’s focus on the action—or, more appropriately, the inaction—of sitting places readers right next to each protagonist as they transition from physically and metaphorically staying still to moving on.” — <strong><em>Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books</em></strong></p>
<p>“Sit is an obvious choice for school library fiction collections ... I think that it’s hard not to find at least one story with which students can find a personal connection. So, find your “Reading Chair”, sit down and lose yourself in the power of story.” — <strong><em>CM: Canadian Review of Materials</em></strong></p>
<p>“Ellis’ cleverly crafted tales will encourage children to stand up for themselves and take risks to solve their problems.” — <strong><em>Quill & Quire</em></strong></p>
Nine poignant and empowering short stories from the author of The Breadwinner.
The seated child. With a single powerful image, Deborah Ellis draws our attention to nine children and the situations they find themselves in, often through no fault of their own. In each story, a child makes a decision and takes action, be that a tiny gesture or a life-altering choice.
Jafar is a child laborer in a chair factory and longs to go to school. Sue sits on a swing as she and her brother wait to have a supervised visit with their father at the children’s aid society. Gretchen considers the lives of concentration camp victims during a school tour of Auschwitz. Mike survives seventy-two days of solitary as a young offender. Barry squirms on a food court chair as his parents tell him that they are separating. Macie sits on a too-small time-out chair while her mother receives visitors for tea. Noosala crouches in a fetid, crowded apartment in Uzbekistan, waiting for an unscrupulous refugee smuggler to decide her fate.
These children find the courage to face their situations in ways large and small, in this eloquent collection from a master storyteller.
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6
Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.9
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.
- Deborah Ellis’ first work of fiction since her Fall 2014, award-winning The Cat at the Wall.
- This collection represents the best of Deborah Ellis. Accessible, well-paced but emotionally layered, character-driven stories that forward themes of a child’s independence and empowerment. Her characters can be cranky, disobedient, angry, stubborn and heroic, and young readers around the world respond to their honesty and authenticity.
- The settings in this collection range from a Polish concentration camp to an Amish farming community to a crowded apartment in Uzbekistan, and small and large towns everywhere.
- Curriculum connections: language arts / short story, character development; social studies / power and systems within society, rights and responsibilities, fairness and justice; health and physical education / decision making, personal safety.
- Perfect for fans of Deborah Ellis, both middle grade and young adult. The stories cross grade levels and are thematically rich while being short and extremely accessible in reading level.
“We would make perfect murderers,” said Sanu, who was one year older than Jafar…
“What are you talking about?” Jafar asked.
Sanu held up his hands and wiggled his fingers.
“No fingerprints!” he said, laughing.
They could laugh now, but when Jafar first started sanding, his fingers got so sore and bloody!
“Get one more drop of blood on one of my chairs, you little cockroach, and I’ll send you back to your family in a garbage sack!” Boss had yelled at him.
*
Oak Street was not the busiest street in town, but lots of people still walked down it, and they all looked at Bea, sitting by herself on a bench in the middle of a school day.
Bea didn’t worry about the old ladies. She had sat on this bench before on her days off and the old ladies left her alone…
The dangerous ones were the yoga ladies…
The yoga ladies were busybodies.
*
Mike hears the outer door of the Administrative Segregation pod shut and lock. He is all alone…
His eyes are wiped and his face is dry by the time he hears the Ag Seg door unlock again and the peep-hole covering in his own door slide open.
“You all right in there, 75293?”
Mike knows the voice of CO Jenson.
It is the voice of the devil.