• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

It's 1902, and Keeley has decided that she wants to be a newspaper reporter. What better way to start off her career than by solving a mystery and writing about it for the new local paper? All over Frank, Alberta, things have been going missing: Mrs. Johnston's shirt from her clothesline, Andy Grissick's frying pan, and Mrs. Greer's axe. But there are even more mysterious things happening around Frank. Keeley's teacher, Miss Griffin, is behaving oddly, there are women protesting in the streets, and Canada is apparently at war, although Keeley doesn't understand whom the soldiers are fighting or where the battles are taking place. What she does know is that if she can solve these mysteries, she will have a great story to tell!

Deborah Ellis is the internationally acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children, including The Breadwinner Trilogy; The Heaven Shop; Lunch With Lenin; Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees; and Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk About AIDS. She has won many national and international awards for her books, including the Governor General’s Award, the Vicky Metcalf Award, Sweden’s Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Children’s Africana Book Award Honor Book for Older Readers.Deborah knew she wanted to be a writer at the age of 11 or 12. Growing up in Paris, Ontario, she loved reading about big cities like New York. In high school, Deborah joined the Peace Movement, playing anti-Nuclear War movies at her school. Since then Deborah has become a peace activist, humanitarian and philanthropist, donating almost all of the royalties from her books to communities in need in Asia and Africa. Heavily involved with Women for Women in Afghanistan, Deborah has helped build women’s centers and schools, giving children education and finding work for women.In 2006, Deborah was named to the Order of Ontario. She now lives in Simcoe, Ontario.

Deborah Ellis' profile page

Keeley: Keeley’s Big Story (Our Canadian Girl)