Parvanas Journey

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. Booklist (December 1, 2002 (Vol. 99, No. 7).