This summary provides an overview of the characters and plot of the book "The Breadwinner" by Deborah Ellis.
The book follows 11-year-old Parvana who lives with her family in Kabul, Afghanistan under Taliban rule. With the Taliban banning women from work and girls from school, Parvana dresses as a boy to support her family after her father is imprisoned. As the oldest daughter, Parvana takes on responsibilities of reading and selling items to make money. The story also introduces other characters like Parvana's sister Nooria and their friend Shauzia who all struggle under the Taliban's oppressive laws. The document provides background on the characters and storyline, which sees Parvana embarking on a journey
3. Parvana olite lways, but not often, gets blisters eally wants Father out of jail ery kind ll the languages she knows are English, Dari and Pashtu ever knew what jail looked like Lmost every day, she reads letters for money
4. Nooria ot nice to Parvana sometimes bviously has to look over her siblings nly teaches a few hours at the ‘secret’ school epeatedly cleans the shelf s getting married bout to travel to Mazar-e-Shairf for the wedding
5. Shauzia hoveled up bones for money er mother cares for her lways works hard sed to go to school is one of the letters in her name s going save money to travel to France ll family members don’t really pay much attention to her
6. MRSWeera akes a new magazine with Parvana’s mom eally friendly ometimes strict as a physical ed. teacher xcited nergetic eally crazy sometimes n elderly woman
7. Mother and Father Pros and Cons Mother (Fantana) Father Pros She started a secret school with Mrs. Weera She starts writing a magazine with Mrs. Weera Cons Constantly cleans the shelf with Nooria She was part of a magazine Pros Makes Parvana feel very special Knows a lot of history and tells stories to his children Cons Was arrested for being educated in England Lost half of his leg
8. Storyline Eleven year old Parvana lives with her family in a one room apartment in Kabul, Afghanistan. She used to have a nice house, go to school and her parents had jobs. That was before the Taliban came in. Women can’t have jobs and girls can’t go to school. Parvana, her mother and siblings haven’t left their apartment for a year and a half.
9. Still, Parvana helps her injured father sell goods for money. Her father can also make money by reading and writing letters. One night her father gets arrested by the Taliban for being educated in England. Now that the family has no money and can’t go outside, Parvana cuts her hair, dresses as a boy and starts reading letters/selling stuff. A few weeks or more, Nooria gets engaged to a man and travels with her family to Mazar-e – Sharif.
10. Parvana stays behind because she insists that Father might come back to find an empty apartment. Later, Parvana found a woman named Homa, who had escaped the Taliban in Mazar-e-Sharif. A few days later, Father comes home unexpectedly and goes with Parvana to Mazar-e-Sharif. What will happen next? Read Parvana’s Journey to find out.
11. Opinion I like this book very much because it sort of tells you what is going on in Afghanistan. Like the Taliban and the war. I can really connect to Parvana because I work hard, I am not that good at physical labor but I still do it anyways. I have read this book about three times and I love hearing the story over and over again.
12. Facts about Kabul, Afghanistan and Deborah Ellis Kabul *Population: 439, 800 *Over 3500 years old *largest city in Afghanistan *shut schools down in 1980’s, reopened in 2002 Deborah Ellis *Born on August 7, 1960 *started writing when she was 11-12 *traveled to Afghanistan in 1997 *more than five books were written