I was really bored, pretty antisocial, and not much of a joiner, and people thought that was a problem. I hated high school. In a way, it was good… I think, for a writer, it’s good to be comfortable with being on the outside. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
When the Taliban took over in 1996, the news of their crimes hit the Toronto papers. As a feminist and as an anti-war activist, I heard about what was happening to women, and I wanted to do something to support those folks. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
One of the things that has really hit home for me is that the world is how we decide it is going to be. Very few things just happen. They grow out of history, and they grow out of the present, and the more we can get a sense of how our actions lead into other actions in the future, hopefully we’ll learn to make better decisions. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
If I’m going to be a pessimist, then I should just stop writing for young people because that’s too heavy a burden to put on young readers. But also, I get to meet with people who have waded through horrible things, and they get up every morning, and they try to do their best. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
As a woman in Canada, I get to do whatever I want to do, and I’m used to that. I’m used to not having my government tell me my life is going to be restricted because I’m female. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
I think most people, no matter what their situation, manage to find joy and comfort in their daily lives. I also think things fall apart. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
We owe it to our children to be honest about the world and to provide them with material written specially for them. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
While the war in Iraq was raging, I spent some time in neighbouring Jordan, meeting with Iraqi refugees who fled their country to try to find some place of safety. I interviewed many families about what had happened to them and what they did as a result. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
In ‘Off to War, Voices of Soldier’s Children,’ kids from Canada and the United States talk about what it is like when their mother or father goes off to war – and comes home again. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
In refugee camps around the world, I met people who were gone. They were still walking around but had lost so much that they were unable to claim any sort of identity. Others I met found who they truly were, and they generally found it through service to others. They became teachers when there was no school, books or pencils. Deborah Ellis Read Quote
