The Breadwinner (The Breadwinner collection)

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The book starts with Parvana and Father at the marketplace, where they are selling some of their household items. They decide to end the day and head home, where Mother and Nooria are cleaning. After dinner that night the Taliban bursts into the house and arrests Father for his diploma that he earned overseas. Another major theme woven throughout the book is that of family and friendship. Parvana and her family are very close, and the Taliban, since taking power, have worked to sow distrust and suspicion amongst people and their neighbors. Her family members are the only ones she can really trust. Both Shauzia and Mrs. Weera become close with Parvana and the family, providing the type of emotional support that family members sometimes just can't. Symbols in The BreadwinnerFather: Parvana's dad, and a former teacher. He's intelligent and foreign-educated, which leads to his arrest. Parvana takes courage from his stories. Parvana: The eleven-year-old heroine of The Breadwinner, risks her own life to help her family, even though she just wants to be a normal kid.

Masquerading as a boy, Parvana takes on great responsibilities -- but she also feels a sense of freedom. Have you ever felt that way?

Mrs. Weera: A former teacher and women's rights activist; she's also Mother's friend. She has lost her whole family to the war except her granddaughter. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner.

Sequel to The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis follows the eponymous 12-year-old girl who, disguised as a boy, sets off from Kabul in search of her missing mother and siblings in Continue reading » Danger is ever present, and men, women, and children are fearful of beating or imprisonment by the Taliban or being killed by mines or bombs. Children dig up human bones to earn money. Father lost leg in school bombing; child overhears woman assaulted in home; men, women, and children are beaten; children witness thieves getting arms chopped off in public punishment; child recounts violent deaths of family; woman describes seeing wild dogs eating bodies. In an invaluable, eye-opening narrative history, Ellis (the Breadwinner series) presents interviews with dozens of youth ages nine to 18 from among the 565 federally recognized Native tribes in the Continue reading »Throughout the book, Parvana grows closer to her older sister Nooria as well as the woman who appears in the window of a building close to where Parvana works. She throws small gifts onto Parvana's blanket from her window. Dori has taught college and high school English courses, and has Masters degrees in both literature and education. Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).