A Company of Fools by Deborah Ellis

A Company of Fools by Deborah Ellis

Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction, Honour Book

Mr. Christie Silver Book Award

Ruth Schwartz Award, finalist

Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Award, nominee

Rocky Mountain Book Award, nominee

Henri has been living within abbey walls all his life, first in the care of nuns, then as a choirboy at St. Luc's, not far from Paris. He expects to spend the rest of his life there, copying books in the Scriptorium with the other brothers, and singing Mass in the great cathedral.

Then Micah arrives, a streetwise ragamuffin with the voice of an angel, saved from certain hanging to sing for God instead of coins. Micah comes like a fresh breeze into dead places, bringing exuberant joy at a time when Henri most needs it.

For the plague is coming, the grim reaper that will slash at the very roots of Henri's security. And neither Henri nor Micah nor anyone else in their world will ever be the same.

Deborah Ellis is best known for her Breadwinner series of novels, which have been translated into 25 languages and have generated over $1 million in royalties for charities such as Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan and Street Kids International. She has received numerous awards, including the Governor General's Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California's Middle East Book Award, the Swedish Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award for a Body of Work. She was recently appointed to the Order of Ontario and won the President's Award for Outstanding Achievement from the Ontario Library Association. Simcoe, Ontario is her home.