There are no easy answers for the people of Afghanistan as they face such a difficult situation. Learning more about this beautiful, tragic country and its wonderful people is one small way to try to avoid the many mistakes outsiders have made that have brought Afghans to this difficult time in their history.
GLOSSARY
burqa – A long, tent-like garment worn by women. It covers the entire body and has a narrow mesh screen over the eyes.
chador – A piece of cloth worn by women and girls to cover their hair and shoulders.
Dari – One of the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan.
Eid – A Muslim festival coming at the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting.
karachi – A cart on wheels, pushed by hand, used to sell things in the market.
kebab – Pieces of meat on a skewer, cooked over a fire.
land mine – A bomb planted in the ground, which explodes if it is stepped on.
nan – Afghan bread. It can be flat, long or round.
Pashtu – One of the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan.
pattu – A gray or brown woolen blanket shawl worn by Afghan men and boys.
shalwar kameez – Long, loose shirt and trousers, worn by both men and women. A man’s shalwar kameez is one color, with pockets in the side and on the chest. A woman’s shalwar kameez has different colors and patterns and is sometimes elaborately embroidered or beaded.
Soviets – The Soviet Union before its break-up, including Russia and other Communist countries.
Taliban – An Afghan army that took control of the capital city of Kabul in September 1996, and was forced from power in the fall of 2001.
toshak – A narrow mattress used in many Afghan homes instead of chairs or beds.
Praise for
THE BREADWINNER TRILOGY
The Breadwinner
“. . . a great kid’s book . . . a graphic geopolitical brief that’s also a girl-power parable.” — Newsweek
“. . . a book . . . about the hard times — and the courage — of Afghan children.” — Washington Post
• Hackmatack Award
• Middle East Book Award
• Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Award
• Swedish Peter Pan Prize
• YALSA PPYA
Parvana’s Journey
A war is raging in Afghanistan as a coalition of Western forces tries to oust the Taliban by bombing the country. Parvana’s father has died, and her mother, sister and brother have gone to a faraway wedding, not knowing what has happened to the father. Parvana doesn’t know where they are. She just knows she has to find them. She sets out alone, masquerading as a boy, her journey becoming more perilous as the bombs begin to fall. Making her way across the desolate Afghan countryside, she meets other children who are strays from the war. The children travel together because it is easier than being alone. And, as they forge their own family in the war zone that Afghanistan has become, their resilience, imagination and luck help them to survive.
“Through spare and affecting prose, Ellis . . . makes the children’s journey both arduous and believable.” — Booklist
“This sequel . . . easily stands alone . . . An unforgettable read.” — School Library Journal, starred review
• Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award Honor Book
• Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist
• Ontario Library Association Golden Oak Award
• Ruth Schwartz Award
• YALSA BBYA
Mud City
Parvana’s best friend, Shauzia, has fled Afghanistan and is faced with surviving on her own on the streets of Peshawar, Pakistan. With her dog as her only friend, she must scrounge for food, beg for money and look for a safe place to sleep every night. But could it be worse than a lifetime spent living in a refugee camp? This is a powerful and very human story of a feisty, driven girl who tries to take control of her own life.
“. . . bristles with transparent urgency . . . the question of autonomy in childhood, and the violation of it are addressed face on.” — Globe and Mail
“. . . a fine, strong addition to Ellis’ growing list of novels. Highly recommended.” — Toronto Star
• Hackmatack Award
• Lamplighter Award
• New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
Also by Deborah Ellis
FICTION
Looking for X
The Breadwinner
Parvana’s Journey
Mud City
The Breadwinner Trilogy (Anthology)
A Company of Fools
The Heaven Shop
I Am a Taxi
Sacred Leaf
Jackal in the Garden: An Encounter with Bihzad
Jakeman
Bifocal (Co-written with Eric Walters)
Lunch With Lenin and Other Stories
No Safe Place
NONFICTION
Three Wishes: Israeli and Palestinian Children Speak
Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk
About Aids
Off to War: Voices of Soldiers’ Children
Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees
About the Author
DEBORAH ELLIS has achieved international acclaim with her courageous and dramatic books that give Western readers a glimpse into the plight of children in developing countries. She has won the Governor General’s Award, Sweden’s Peter Pan Prize, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the University of California’s Middle East Book Award, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. A long-time feminist and anti-war activist, she is best known for The Breadwinner Trilogy, which has been published around the world in seventeen languages, with more than a million dollars donated to Street Kids International and to Women for Women, an organization that supports health and education projects in Afghanistan. She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.
About the Publisher
Groundwood Books, established in 1978, is dedicated to the production of children's books for all ages, including fiction, picture books and non-fiction. We publish in Canada, the United States and Latin America.
Our books aim to be of the highest possible quality in both language and illustration. Our primary focus has been on works by Canadians, though we sometimes also buy outstanding books from other countries.
Many of our books tell the stories of people whose voices are not always heard in this age of global publishing by media conglomerates. Books by the First Peoples of this hemisphere have always been a special interest, as have those of others who through circumstance have been marginalized and whose contribution to our society is not always visible. Since 1998 we have been publishing works by people of Latin American origin living in the Americas both in English and in Spanish under our Libros Tigrillo imprint.
We believe that by reflecting intensely individual experiences, our books are of universal interest. The fact that our authors are published around the world attests to this and to their quality. Even more important, our books are read and loved by children all over the globe.
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