Parvana (The Breadwinner)
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.
This is a novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances. A map, glossary and author's note provide young readers with background and context.
Please Note: This book is also published under the title The Breadwinner.
Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee (2004); BILBY Awards Older Readers Category shortlist (2006)
About the Parvana (Breadwinner) Series
Books in series order
- 1.Parvana (The Breadwinner)(2000)
- 2.Parvana's Journey(2002)
- 3.Mud City (Shauzia)(2003)
- 4.Parvana's Promise (My Name is Parvana)(2012)
- 5.One More Mountain(2022)
Reading age: 10+ years
This series should be read in order.
Based on the true-life stories of women in Afghan refugee camps, the Parvana series is the inspiring story of Parvana, a young girl growing up in Afghanistan, as she struggles to make a life for herself and her family under the harsh rule of the Taliban.
Imagine living in a country where 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. This is the life of Parvana, a young girl growing up in Afghanistan under the control of an extreme religious military group.
When soldiers burst into her home and drag her father off to prison, Parvana is forced to take responsibility for her whole family, dressing as a boy to make a living in the marketplace of Kabul, risking her life in the dangerous and volatile city.
By turns exciting and touching, Parvana's story is one of courage in the face of overwhelming fear and repression.
Note: This series is also known as the Breadwinner.