Mud City

Deborah Ellis

ISBN 10: 0739385836 ISBN 13: 9780739385838

Publisher: Listening Library, 2009

Synopsis

Shauzia is Parvana's friend from The Breadwinner. Now Shauzia has fled from Afghanistan, to a refugee camp in Pakistan. But Shauzia has a dream. She dreams of getting away from the refugee camp and travelling to France. There she knows she would find a better life, away from the war in her home country of Afghanistan. But escape is not so easy. Once she leaves the camp, she has no money, no food - and only her dog Jasper for company. But Shauzia is determined to find a new future for herself. This is another deeply moving story from Deborah Ellis, which casts light for readers on the ongoing human situation in Afghanistan.

About this title

About the Author:

Deborah Ellis has spent extensive periods of time in refugee camps in Pakistan, working with refugees and researching her stories. She is the winner of the Governor General's Award in Canada, their equivalent of the Carnegie Medal. Deborah did an enormous amount of promotion during her visit to the UK at the time of publication of The Breadwinner. She is attending the Edinburgh festival this year.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-7-Stuck in the Widows' Compound of an Afghan refugee camp just across the border in Pakistan, Shauzia chafes at the endless small jobs Mrs. Weera assigns to her. She longs to take charge of her life, travel with her faithful dog Jasper, and make her way to the sea and ultimately to France. She leaves the camp dressed as a boy to try to earn money in Peshawar but there is little work and the meager amount she does earn is stolen by the police. Befriended by a Western family, she misunderstands their ways and is returned to the camp. There, her leg is broken in a riot caused by her efforts to get food for the widows and children. As she comes to recognize her own strengths, she reaches a point where she can lay aside her dream long enough to return to Afghanistan with Mrs. Weera to help her countrymen. Like The Breadwinner (2001) and Parvana's Journey (2002, both Groundwood), this novel conveys a distinctive sense of place, describing in discomfiting detail the sights and sounds of the impoverished refugee camp and the poorest sections of Peshawar. However, the book has the feel of a story begun in the middle. Shauzia's friend Parvana is just a name. Readers know nothing of their previous connection and Shauzia's own history is sketchy. She is smart and likable in her generosity, but her change of heart is sudden and comes as a surprise. Buy where the earlier titles have been popular.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Listening Library
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0739385836
• ISBN 13: 9780739385838
• Binding: Audio CD