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Summary: This is how Afghan life really is
Review: I love this book. I got it cuz I was looking for any thing about Afghanistan that was within or around my age range. I thought this book would be boring, and while @ times this book was a little slow, it was very, very good. Now I know how it really is to life in Afghanistan. It made me very grateful for what we have in the U.S. You'll like this book, I'm sure of it. Read this book!
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Summary: 12 year old reader
Review: i read this book in about 2 hours! i couldnt stop reading! then i read the sequel in almost 1 hour! after the sequel i was crying for an hour. it was so sad! but still good! after reading these books my mom saw how much i liked them and bought me the 3rd book. i havent been home to read it yet though. reading this book made me want to help all the poor souls in the world. in fact after this i voulentered at an animal shelter. it makes you realize how much help the world needs in some places. and we are the ones who have to help. READ THESE BOOKS THERE GREAT!
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Summary: Breadwinner
Review: I really liked the book The Breadwinner. It had some exciting moments that just made me want to keep reading. Every day Parvana dressed up like a boy and went to sell things in the market place. While she was sitting on her mat a mysterious lady would drop little presents down to her from her room above Parvana. I always wanted to find out what she would give Parvana the next day and the next day. There were also some sad parts to this story about Parvana and her life in Afghanistan. Women and girls had to wear turbans on their face and they couldn't show any skin. Girls could only go outside with men. She had a hard time being a girl in Afghanistan. Her father was in jail and she had to act like a boy and work the family jobs. Parvana is a very smart and courageous girl with a strong mind.
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Summary: Fabulous
Review: I taught this book to my sixth grade class last year-an easy read technically but mature ideas, but easily 90% of the students loved it so much that I had to order the next book-and then the next one as well! Thought provoking for everyone who has grown up with all the necessities and more. A great perspective on the real world right now. Even though it is about a young girl, boys thoroughly enjoyed reading about her adventures. The best part? All proceeds go to Women for Women, a charitible organization in Afghanistan.
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Summary: 11 year old reader
Review: I think that the Breadwinner is a very good book. It has information about what's happening in Afghanistan. And I enjoy learning about different countries. They are very interesting to hear about. The Breadwinner is about a girl named Paravana who lives in Afghanistan. Paravana faces many challenges. One day her father gets taken away to jail, for no reason. Back then women weren't allowed to go shopping without a man with them. What can Paravana do for her family? If you want to find out what happens next to Paravana and her family you should read this book.
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Summary: Good book!
Review: I thought this book was very well writen. I gave it five stars because it drops of at the end, But soon I figured out their was a sequil!Parvana a, a young afgan girl, lives with her sister,mother, father, younger sister and a very young brother. Her dad is taken away by the taliban army, because he has an education (wierd!). Parvana must earn money for her family, but girls aren't alowed to work, so shes turned into a boy. Buy and read the book for complete detale! Very good!!
~Nick
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Summary: One of the best books
Review: In a place far from the United States there's a place called AFGHANISTAN. This story takes place in a town called Kabul when the Taiban ruled .This great book is called The BREADWINNER, by DEBORAH ELLIS. This is a 5 star book! The main point is women are not allowd outside without a man. A father, mother and 4 kids suffer from their homes being bombed. Every time they have to move to a smaller home.(The Taliban kill people a lot.) I recommend this good book.
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Summary: Unengaging as a story, uninformative as an educational tool
Review: In The Breadwinner, Deborah Ellis tries very hard to describe the situation in Afghanistan in a manner comprehensible by a North American child. Unfortunately, she tries too hard. The family depicted, although portrayed with careful characterization, reads like a North American family pasted into the foreign setting. As a previous reviewer noted, no mention of Islam is ever made, either in describing the day to day life of the family or in describing anything at all in the city. The historical background is sketchy at best -- too dry to interest a young child reader, and too vague and inaccurate (with incorrect dates and no attention given to motivations or historical backgrounds of the participants in Afghanistan's endless war) to be a useful source for an older YA reader attempting to learn about the region. Often given in blocks of exposition rather than mixed into the dialogue and thoughts of the characters, it melds poorly with the story. The story itself rambles in several directions but never quite reaches any of them despite a promising beginning. Characters come and go or, in some cases such as the mysterious window woman, are hinted at but never revealed. If the author is attempting to represent the confusion and chaos of living through war, she has done an excellent job, but I believe she has done so at the cost of ignoring her format -- a novel for young children who would most likely find a clear beginning, middle, and ending more engaging and easier to follow. The Breadwinner is a slightly less than average book that offers oversimplification of complex issues without making up for this lack in the departments of plot or quality writing. Like other books written about Afghanistan, it is experiencing a surge of increased attention in the post 9/11 world, but I worry for any who see it as an accurate description of the country and not, as it is intended, as a simple story.
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Summary: Snapshot of life under Taliban regime.
Review: Life for women under the Taliban regime in Afghanistan is not the stuff of which happy children's books are made. There is no happy ending here, regardless of the obstacles which are overcome, because the real-life ending has not yet come.
This book, while fiction, is the result of interviews with women who escaped from Kabul and who were living in camps in Pakistan, including one mother who disguised her daughter as a boy. The setting is true to time and place as it captures life for one family in one short period of time. (Ellis is donating the book sales to an organization dedicated to educating girls in refugee camps.) It is a simple story, and engaging, as the reader follows the daily life of a fictional family as they struggle to survive the imprisonment of the father. His absence from the home means that they no longer have food, or communication outside the home because the female members of the family cannot go out unescorted by a male. Parvana, who is pre-adolescent, surrenders her long hair to help her family, and disguised as a boy earns a little money by selling things from their home or reading for the largely illiterate population. Thus she is able to shop for food. Her bravery is the focal point of the story and the reader is reminded of the courage and strength of children everywhere who survive against incredible odds. Ellis has done well to write this as a story for children/young adults. While she doe not gloss over the hard parts of life in Kabul under the Taliban with executions, dismemberment, and imprisonment without a trial or a public charge neither does she dwell on them at length. Being without food or a father is hard enough for one story; living in fear adds more trauma. Everyday hardships such as the closing of school, the absence of music, and the difficulties of communication add to the realities of the story. But Ellis allows Parvana to see a Taliban soldier as human when she reads a letter for the illiterate man and watches his eyes fill with tears. To see the enemy as human is a triumph of the human spirit and gives this book its hope.
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Summary: Read it WITH a child
Review: My eight year-old and I read it together so we could pause and talk about the story. We wanted to stop and talk about nearly every character and every plot turn. Although some scenes are graphic, they are not gory. This is a conversation starter suitable for a youth book club or enjoying with a friend. We hope Ms Ellis has a sequel planned.
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