Step

by Deborah Ellis

In this powerful collection of short stories, children around the world turn eleven and take a step into their futures. Each one is changed in ways both big and small. Annoyed at having to walk his sister’s dog on his birthday, Connor heads into an undeveloped subdivision, where he comes across chilling evidence of a stranger’s unhappiness. A girl sneaks away from her class camping trip to a local conservation area and experiences, for the first time, the terror and joy of fending for herself for the first time. Dom’s brother gives him a special crystal to boost his confidence, and the gift conjures up a child laborer from the impoverished area of Madagascar where the stones were mined. Mysterious voices at the local county fair prompt Aislynn to think twice after her older sister dumps her for her high-school buddies. While volunteering at his local soup kitchen, Len discovers that there are bigger shames than having the class bully seeing you in a hairnet. And on an historic bridge in Budapest, Lazlo’s dream of the perfect father-son birthday outing becomes a nightmare when his father introduces him to his Neo-Nazi friends. A companion to the critically acclaimed Sit .
Key Text Features short stories table of contents dialogue

Genres: Short Stories, Middle Grade, Juvenile, Young Adult, Coming Of Age, Childrens, Audiobook

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2022

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Deborah Ellis has achieved international acclaim with her courageous and dramatic books that give Western readers a glimpse into the plight of children in developing countries.

She has won the Governor General's Award, Sweden's Peter Pan Prize, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California's Middle East Book Award, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award.

A long-time feminist and anti-war activist, she is best known for The Breadwinner Trilogy, which has been published around the world in seventeen languages, with more than a million dollars in royalties donated to Street Kids International and to Women for Women, an organization that supports health and education projects in Afghanistan. In 2006, Deb was named to the Order of Ontario.

Reviews

[Victoria Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️4.8⭐️
Step is a series short stories about children who have just turned 11 and how each child takes up step towards something new or different. Each story is quite contrastive to the next as they feature children going through all different levels of strife - from their relationship with their parents and siblings to surviving wars and being refugees. Each story is quite humbling and some are even heartbreaking though really gripping. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, though specifically anyone working with children who is wanting a little perspective!

[Bella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aimed for younger readers, this was a very intriguing collection of short stories about themes like family, responsibility, and empathy, that also broached pretty serious topics, such as child laborers in unsafe working conditions, the dangerous journey of refugees across the sea, the racial discrimination of minority groups during wartime, and the impacts of gang violence in impoverished communities.

It’s hard for me to pay attention to short stories, so I would have enjoyed reading a longer, more expansive version of each story.

[Karen Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Always thought provoking.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding YA Book

The main characters in this book are all 11 years old. They are in several countries and in a variety of situations. One that strikes out at me is the eleven year old migrant held in a Libyan prison. Ellis doesn’t dumb down or sweeten her prose, she’s respectful and direct. No inane dialog, attention to lexile scores or constant repetition. These short stories are full of good stuff. Very moving.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sure do love short stories. This collection caught me by surprise...out of the 10 chapter-length stories here, more than half deal with some really heavy topics: migrant children in detention centers in Texas, migrant families crossing the Mediterranean, a neo-Nazi father trying to indoctrinate his son, child labor involved in mining crystals, migrants in a Libyan detention center, possible slave labor in a nail salon. A few of the stories made me cry, and many had me Googling topics. The other stories that weren't quite so heavy were still powerful. A couple stories had magical elements, which was also surprising.

The main characters are not connected in any way, but all of them just turned 11, and they are all faced with choices about what kind of person they want to be. Some of these choices are really subtle. For example, after being released from his detention center and reunited with his mom, the boy chooses to say "Thank you" to the detention worker as he is leaving...he thinks about NOT saying it, but decides that he still wants to be the person who does the polite thing, despite everything he has been through.

Spoiler-not-spoiler: Because this is a young adult book, none of our newly-turned-11 characters die (despite some of their truly awful circumstances), and they all make good choices. For this reason, I think this would be a perfect book to use in pieces for different classroom topics...you could easily just have a class read one of the stories before having a discussion about migration, for example. It would also be great for a school book club.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Step is a collection of 10 short stories by Deborah Ellis, each about a kid's eleventh birthday. It's a slightly incongruous combination of the everyday lives of privileged kids and the harrowing/violent experiences of refugees, which I suppose is effective at getting the reader to think about the wide range of experiences kids have around the world but makes for an odd reading experience. There's even a fantasy story or two thrown in. I didn't love the writing style--it felt a little overly-simplistic for the subject matter. But maybe it could make this a high-low choice?

I've seen some concern about this not being an #ownvoices (I know this term is being moved away from but it is useful for situations like this) perspective on refugee issues, though the note that the royalties are being donated to help refugees is good to see.

I did think that the story about a kid crossing the Mexico-US border took an odd view of the situation: the kid gets separated from her mother, held in a detention center, and treated horribly, but when she's finally released and allowed to enter the US, she feels only gratitude toward the country, and continues to call it "the land of the free"?

Anyway, list of stories included:

Smash
Alone
Rock
Rubber
Shoes
Ride
Laundry
Free
Nails
Supper

[Ricki · Rating 1 out of 5]

NOT recommended. I had to stop reading after the first two stories due to terrible family dynamics:

-In story #1, "Smash": sad 11yo boy has a mean sister, a dog he never wanted, and neglectful, irresponsible, permissive parents.

-In story #2, "Alone": 11yo girl creates elaborate deception to run away and camp all by herself in the woods for two days, while her class is on a camping trip together. She lies to her teacher, makes sure her parents won't be able to track her phone, and has "lies ready" in case any grown-ups notice and question that she's in the wrong area. "No one knows where I am. My whole self felt happy." Even if teachers notice she's absent, "Mom and Dad went off to some lodge where they can drink wine and be kid-free for a few days... no one will be the wiser." Later, "When had I become such a drag to [my parents]?" Then she spies on her class on their camping trip. She feels brave and capable (like Sam in "My Side of the Mountain") and feels the need to find out what else she can do. Then the story just ends, so presumably she got away with it.

[Susanne]

This is a series of stories of which the protagonists are all 11 years old. The stories cover a multitude of experiences.

Some that stood out to me: One character discovers smashed plates with words like "I'm ugly" on them and wonders what we are all hiding.

One child survives being robbed and abandoned at sea on the way to America. Another talks about life in a detention center. One child steps away from his father when he realizes his Nazi beliefs. Another one talks about removing friends from her life that no longer fit. The stories tend to hang around a central image and build out from there--example: Oma's story on the raft revolves around two seas--her family's deep, dark sea that brings peril and the calm, turquoise sea of the well-to-do tourists.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle reader. When adults write meaningful, world-opening fiction for tweens, I want to cheer. This is a collection of ten vignettes about children all over the world celebrating their 11th birthday on the same day. One is taking a refugee boat to a better life, one is in a detention center that gets bombed, one visits the county fair where she is ditched by her older sister, but still rescues her from a bad date, one spends the day and night on a solo campout, one is gaining the courage to explore his neighborhood a bit beyond its usual boundaries. All grow, learn something valuable about themselves and others, and gain a smidge of wisdom with their added year. Beautiful and poignant.

[Kay S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been waiting for something to spark like this one. It's well-written, the characters are believable, the stories varied and strong... I loved each story individually as much as I love the thematic links that bring them together as a cohesive unit. Ellis really takes her experience writing children in crisis and combines it with stories of regular children to get readers to empathise and investigate the situation the characters are in. This one will almost definitely make my top ten.

[Lori Emilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best of the year for me. Deborah Ellis is a masterful storyteller, and this anthology of children on their 11th birthdays doesn’t disappoint. Various children from a range of countries and experiences, each with their own troubles, tell their story. Some are hard to hear, and all are told just the way you would imagine an 11-year old tell it. The nature of some stories are triggering, so I would recommend for Gr. 7+.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these short stories slowly, usually one at a time, while eating meals and I so enjoyed them. Ellis beautifully shows the power of growing older (turning eleven) and making choices that align with that maturity. I liked how the stories were diverse and showcased the loved experiences of different eleven year olds across the globe. But whether big or small, they all made decisions that demonstrated their values and their growth.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

All the main characters in these stories have just turned eleven years old (I feel like the author missed something here only having ten stories).
Many of the stories are intense & deal with tough topics (neo-Nazis, jail, suicide, gang violence, immigration detention centers, anti-immigration bigotry), but they would make for great student discussion topics or writing prompts as they are all rather open-ended.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not very good at writing reviews yet, so this might not be very helpful.

I liked this book and even cried at a few stories. I felt like I could relate to some of the characters, and it was fun reading about some of the bizarre situations these kids found themselves in. I overall enjoyed this book though and would recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick read.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended to all ages. This is not your typical book of birthday stories. These stories take place in a variety of settings, including--detainment centers, a soup kitchen, a migrant journey, a wilderness area and a neo-Nazi gathering. Some of them will make your heart ache. I want to read more by Deborah Ellis.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories that all tell about a different 11-year-old from around the world. Some are more serious than others but all are thought provoking. I’m not always a fan of short story compilations but I thought this was a winner.

[Jill CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read of short stories written by one author. There are some great messages in some of the chapters. Lots of diversity in character, setting, genre, and point of view. There are some tough issues addressed in some of the stories so suggested for grades 4 and up.

[Charlotte Graham]

At the beginning of the second chapter, I was quite confused because I didn't know that each chapter follows different perspectives of different children. After that, I really enjoyed the book and Deborah Ellis is a great author.

[Shauna Yusko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories
All about kids on 11th birthday
Good discussion

[Elizabeth]

Such a sad and depressing book.

[Ingrid Støle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Litt koselig å lese små noveller. Alle hovedpersonene er 11 år, men lever totalt forskjellige liv. Og hver for seg, tar de nye skritt.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Collection of stories centering on kids turning 11 and stepping into new roles

[Catharine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tiny book has some powerful stories. Not for the faint of heart, there are some heavy issues in here, but viewed through the eyes of a child turning eleven. Not only are the characters taking a step forward, so can the reader as they consider life from the perspective of ten children in these short stories.

[Deborah Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this collection of stories, and think they would be a great read-aloud for middle grade classes. Ellis has long been known for her stories which encourage the development of social conscience and awareness of children's problems around the world. She is also an excellent storyteller. These nine short stories portray the moment when children take a stand and realize that they can do something to help others as well as themselves. They are poignant and moving moments in time; a boy sees the hard life of a child labourer, a refugee girls barely survives an escape by sea, an over-protected girl sees her classmates in a new way when she goes camping alone, a young Hungarian boy tries to impress his father's friends and ends up turning his back on their right wing beliefs. The stories are not easy, they demand attention and contemplation. When shared by a loving adult, they could lead to discussion and growth. Well done!

[Cadee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I like this story because it is interesting to see different stories in one book. It is also cooler to see what the characters are thinking by their emotions. I love this book most of all because it is cool to have different topics for each chapter. This book is amazing and you should read it." -Cadee, age 10.