Imagine living in a country in which women and girls are not allowed to leave the house without a man. Imagine having to wear clothes that cover every part of your body, including your face, whenever you go out.
In this powerful and realistic tale, eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city during the Taliban rule. Parvana's father- a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed- works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions in the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden by the Taliban government to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy and become the breadwinner.
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"Pretty good, actually. I loved the story line, great characters, idea was great. My only dislike was the thought of being in her situation which sounds terrible because that is the purpose of a book but this wasn't a situation to my liking unlike others. Still a great book though. "
— Mitchie (4 out of 5 stars)
" This book is moving and life changing. I felt priviledged to read it with my 6th graders. It touched each and every one of them. "
— Kellianne, 6/19/2011" The story sort of goes nowhere at the end, and the characters are more stock/caricatures than real people. "
— Hilary, 6/12/2011" I thought it was good in the sense of showing us how the lives really are like but personally i wouldnt read it again because I just didnt like it:/ "
— Chloe, 6/7/2011" Read this aloud to one of my English classes. Amazing and painful how close some of Parvana's experiences mirror memories from this part of the world. "
— Esther, 5/29/2011" A sad view of a child’s struggle in Kabul, under Taliban rule, yet compelling. I defiantly recommend this book. "
— Mare, 5/27/2011" Great book about life in Afganistan under the Taliban rule. I recommend everyone read it. "
— Christy, 5/24/2011" It was cool when the father came back "
— Ian, 5/17/2011" This book shows the struggles down in Afganistan "
— Megan, 4/29/2011" very good. it hurts me when i think that this acually does happen. "
— Erin, 4/11/2011Deborah 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, she was named to the Order of Ontario.