Ellis is a well-known author with more than 20 published books for young adults. Ellis penned the international bestseller The Breadwinner which is translated into 25 languages. She has donated most of her royalty income to worthy causes — Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, Street Kids International, the Children in Crisis Fund of IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) and UNICEF. She has donated more than one million dollars in royalties from her Breadwinner books alone. Ellis has won the Governor General’s Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California’s Middle East Book Award, Sweden’s Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award. She has received the Ontario Library Association’s President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement, and has been named to the Order of Ontario.