Name: The Breadwinner
ISBN: 9780888994165

Deborah Ellis

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.

The Breadwinner

Nadine 

I would like to give it a higher rating, but I don't think that it is warranted. I'm going through our middle school reading corner and trying to read everything there and I think this kind of book through it's focus on historical events and facts and trying to recount events in time for a YA audience does its audience no favours. It actually dumbs down not only the events but also the protagonists. The whole book is a series of events without much exploration of the inner lives of any of the characters. If I consider that students this age are also exposed to books like "the kite runner" then I say "meah".

Deborah Ellis's bestselling novel The Breadwinner, now available as a stunningly illustrated graphic novel.

A Graphic Novel

Erin 

The animated movie that this is adapted from was nominated for an Academy Award a few years ago, and I will forever be upset that Disney has a monopoly on literally everything. It is a stunning film with an incredible, sad, yet painfully real story about a girl who dresses as a boy to become the breadwinner of the family, and the struggles her family goes through just to stay together and live their lives in the Middle East. The novel itself is also incredible, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Afghanistan: Parvana's father is arrested and taken away by Taliban soldiers. Under Taliban law, women and girls are not allowed to leave the house on their own. Parvana, her mother, and sisters are prisoners in their own home. With no man to go out to buy food, they face starvation. So Parvana must pretend to be a boy to save her family. It is a dangerous plan, but their only chance. In fear, she goes out - and witnesses the horror of landmines, the brutality of the Taliban, and the desperation of a country trying to survive. But even in despair lies hope . . . Deborah Ellis has been to Afghan refugee camps and has listened to many stories like Parvana's.

The Breadwinner

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