Parvana's Journey - Softcover

Ellis, Deborah

4.13

9,242 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0888995199 ISBN 13: 9780888995193

Publisher: Groundwood Books, 2003

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A sequel to The Breadwinner, this novel tells the story of Parvana's journey once she leaves Kabul to search for her family. The Taliban still controls Afghanistan, but Kabul is in ruins, Parvana's father has died, and her mother, sister and brother could be anywhere in the country. Parvana doesn't know where they are. She just knows she has to find them.
Parvana is twelve now, but she sets out alone, masquerading as a boy. Her journey becomes even more perilous when war breaks out, though she doesn't know why the bombs are falling. In her search for shelter and food as she makes her way across the desolate Afghan countryside, she meets other children who are strays from the war -- an infant boy in a bombed-out village; a nine-year-old girl who believes she has magical powers over landmines; and a boy with one leg who is so obnoxious that Parvana can hardly stand him. The children travel together because it is easier than being alone. And, as they forge their own family in the war zone that Afghanistan has become, their resilience, imagination and luck help them to survive.

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About the Author:

Deborah Ellis is the author of over 18 books, many of them bestsellers worldwide. She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7-10-This sequel to The Breadwinner (Groundwood, 2001) easily stands alone. After her father's death, 13-year-old Parvana, disguised as a boy, wanders alone through war-torn Afghanistan looking for her mother and siblings who had disappeared in the tumult of the Taliban takeover of Mazar-e-Sharif. Early in her journey, Parvana comes across a baby, the only survivor in a bombed village. She takes him along, as both a burden and comforting company. Taking shelter in a small cave, she discovers an angry one-legged boy who is starved for both food and human companionship. Imagining treasure in their cave, they dig, only to find a cache of bullets-a scene that epitomizes what childhood has become for these young people. The three continue Parvana's search, stopping for a time in an apparent safe haven on the edge of a minefield where an eight-year-old lives with a near-comatose grandmother. When their refuge is destroyed, the four children join a long line of refugees, arriving finally at a camp. A bittersweet ending offers some hope for Parvana and her family, but readers are left with a horrifyingly realistic picture of the effect of war on children. While the reading is not difficult, the grim content cries out for discussion. An unforgettable read.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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