The Breadwinner (The Breadwinner collection)

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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. Even this existence is threatened when the Taliban break in and arrest her father for the crime of having gone to school in England. Ellis (the Breadwinner Trilogy) throws readers into the harrowing experience of migrant teens escaping from different horrors in various corners of the world.

Homa, the girl Parvana finds in a bombed-out building in Kabul, is the one who informs Parvana and Father that the town Mother and Nooria move to has been taken over by the Taliban. While Asif tries to get Maryam and Rafi on one of the last flights out of Kabul, the Taliban come to the school, and Parvana must lead the girls out of Green Valley and into the mountains. The book starts with Parvana and Father at the marketplace, where they are selling some of their household items.The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis, published in 2000, is a children's novel that tells the story of 11-year-old Parvana and her family struggles under control of the Taliban in Afghanistan, who have severely restricted the agency of women. The Taliban was reprimanded particularly for its treatment of women; they were forced to wear burqas (pieces of clothing that covers the body from head to toe) and were forbidden to walk outdoors without a male escort.

Because she is the only family member able to pass as male, she cuts her hair short and dresses as a boy so she can work and make money for the family. Without Father around, the family is in desperate need of money, food and water are scarce, and Parvana's mother becomes depressed. She's also clever, able to persevere in very difficult circumstances, navigate unfamiliar settings, and stay true to her family's values without drawing unwanted attention from the Taliban. Parvana's brother was killed years earlier by a land mine explosion and, for much of the story, her father is imprisoned, leaving only her mother, older sister and two very young siblings. We studied Afghanistan and, to a basic degree, the Taliban as we read Parvana's heartbreaking and inspiring story.Parents need to know that The Breadwinner is about a young girl in Afghanistan who pretends to be a boy so that she can provide for her poor family, defying the Taliban's harsh restrictions on women's freedom. She is found by a police officer named Shauzia, who takes her to Green Valley, a shelter and school for women and girls run by Parvana. Overall, this is a phenomenal book and I recommend it to anyone of an appropriate age, probably at least 4th grade. Because the Taliban is in control, Afghanistan is operating under Sharia law, which are religious laws that govern all aspects of one's life. She believes that people have a responsibility to care for their families, even if it means sacrifices must be made.

Because women are not allowed out of the house without a related male, the family is left without a source of income.This quote is from the beginning of the book, before Parvana begins dressing as a boy to make money. Like Father, Mother has a university education, but she is no longer allowed to work because of the Taliban's rules. One day, when a tea boy spills cups on Parvana’s blanket, Parvana is shocked: the tea boy is her former classmate, Shauzia. You may also want to teach your Year 5 and Year 6 children about Malala Yousafzai, the inspirational young woman from Pakistan who stood in direct opposition to Taliban rule to claim her right to an education and equality, using our great discussion PowerPoint.