This series chronicles the lives of young girls forced to navigate harsh realities in war-torn regions and under oppressive regimes. The narratives highlight the extraordinary resilience, courage, and resourcefulness these girls exhibit as they take on immense responsibilities for their families. These are poignant tales of endurance, friendship, and hope against overwhelming adversity.
Because the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, impose strict limitations on women's freedom and behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father's arrest.
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.
The second book in The Breadwinner series by award-winning author, Deborah Ellis, tells the story of Parvana, travelling alone across a war-ridden Afghanistan in an attempt to find her family.
Shauzia is Parvana's friend from The Breadwinner. Now Shauzia has fled from Afghanistan, to a refugee camp in Pakistan. She dreams of getting away from the refugee camp and travelling to France. Escape is not so easy. But Shauzia is determined to find a new future for herself. This is a story on the human situation in Afghanistan.
Fifteen-year-old Parvana has rebuilt her life after being reunited with her mother and sisters. But suspicion and fear towards the education of women have put them all in danger. When Parvana is held at an American army base in Afghanistan, suspected of being a terrorist, she must protect her family at all costs.