"All girls [should read] The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis." -- Malala Yousafzai, New York Times
The first book in Deborah Ellis's riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city. 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 for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner.
The fifteenth anniversary edition includes a special foreword by Deborah Ellis as well as a new map, an updated author's note and a glossary to provide young readers with background and context. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to Right to Learn Afghanistan. Parvana's Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children.
[The books in the Breadwinner series] are terrifying indictments of what war can bring to children and a powerful testament to the ingenuity and strength of young people in times of terror.-- "Book Links"
...an exceptional story that enlightens the reader about circumstances beyond comprehension and helps students understand that all of us in this global community share the same hopes, dreams, and fears.-- "Resource Links"
..a book...about the hard times -- and the courage -- of Afghan children.-- "Washington Post"
A great kids' book...a graphic geopolitical brief that's also a girl-power parable.-- "Newsweek"
DEBORAH ELLIS is the author of The Breadwinner, which has been published in thirty languages. She has won the Governor General's Award, the Middle East Book Award, the Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. A recipient of the Order of Canada, Deborah has donated more than $2 million in royalties to organizations such as Right to Learn Afghanistan, Mental Health Without Borders and the UNHCR. She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.
Target age: 10 to 13
Groundwood Books
Pub Date: May 1, 2015
0.4" H x 7.4" L x 4.9" W
160 pages
Paperback