Parvana's brother was killed years earlier by a land mine explosion and, for much of the story, her father is imprisoned, leaving only her mother, older sister and two very young siblings. Eleven-year-old Parvana must masquerade as a boy to gain access to the outside world and support her dwindling family. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children.Ĭorrelates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:Ĭompare 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).ĭescribe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.Įllis (Looking for X) bases her contemporary novel on refugee stories about the oppressive rule of Afghanistan by the Taliban. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. The fifteenth anniversary edition includes a special foreword by Deborah Ellis as well as a new map, an updated author’s note and a glossary to provide young readers with background and context.

Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. 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.Īs conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. 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.

The first book in Deborah Ellis’s riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.Įleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. 'All girls The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis.' - Malala Yousafzai, New York Times

The breadwinner trilogy books