Parvana's Journey

July 1, 2002
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 Taliban-era Afghanistan. When war breaks out, she bands together with other displaced children. Royalties from the sale of the book go to Women for Women, a relief organization benefiting women in Afghanistan.

December 1, 2002
Gr 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 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2002
Gr. 5-8. In this sequel to " The Breadwinner "(2001), 13-year-old Parvana buries her father, disguises herself as a boy, and sets out across war-torn Afghanistan to find the surviving members of her family. Along the way, she rescues a baby and meets two other children: contentious Asif, who has lost a leg, and hopeful Leila, who believes she has magical powers that protect her against the land mines on their journey. Together the four children battle starvation, bombings, and despair before reaching a camp that offers them some glimmer of hope for the future. Through spare, affecting prose, Ellis draws a vivid landscape of Taliban-threatened Afghanistan and makes the children's journey both arduous and believable. She does an excellent job of keeping the dialogue and conflict among the children lively and authentic, even as she presents the harrowing struggle for survival. Although American readers are half a world away, they will be moved by the tremendous suffering of the young characters who speak, think, and bicker like children everywhere.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)