My Name Is Parvana
by Deborah Ellis
- Commended, CCBC Choices
- Commended, USBBY Outstanding International Book List
- Short-listed, IODE Violet Downey Book Award
- Commended, Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens List
- Commended, Bank Street College of Education's Book of the Month
Shortlisted for the IODE Violet Downey Book Award, selected for the USBBY Outstanding International Book List, the CCBC Choices List, the Bank Street College of Education's Book of the Month, and the Capitol Choices Noteworthy Titles for Children and Teens List
On a military base in post-Taliban Afghanistan, American authorities have just imprisoned a teenaged girl found in a bombed-out school. The army major thinks she may be a terrorist working with the Taliban. The girl does not respond to questions in any language and remains silent, even when she is threatened, harassed and mistreated over several days. The only clue to her identity is a tattered shoulder bag containing papers that refer to people named Shauzia, Nooria, Leila, Asif, Hassan -- and Parvana.
In this long-awaited sequel to The Breadwinner Trilogy, Parvana is now fifteen years old. As she waits for foreign military forces to determine her fate, she remembers the past four years of her life. Reunited with her mother and sisters, she has been living in a village where her mother has finally managed to open a school for girls. But even though the Taliban has been driven from the government, the country is still at war, and many continue to view the education and freedom of girls and women with suspicion and fear.
As her family settles into the routine of running the school, Parvana, a bit to her surprise, finds herself restless and bored. She even thinks of running away. But when local men threaten the school and her family, she must draw on every ounce of bravery and resilience she possesses to survive the disaster that kills her mother, destroys the school, and puts her own life in jeopardy.
A riveting page-turner, Deborah Ellis's new novel is at once harrowing, inspiring and thought-provoking. And, yes, in the end, Parvana is reunited with her childhood friend, Shauzia.
close this panel... Ellis succeeds in putting a human face on the headlines and the brutality of the Afghan war, while answering many questions about the fate of a heroine whose personality and force of will shine through.
My Name is Parvana is perhaps the most subtle and accomplished of the four Breadwinner volumes.
Her prose is quick; her passion is evident; and Parvana is as compelling a character as ever.
This sequel to the series is not merely an important book about the difficulty of girls' lives in war-torn, U.S.-occupied Afghanistan. It is also an example of vivid storytelling with a visceral sense of place, loss, distrust, and hope.
The book's conclusion is true to both the country of Afghanistan and the character of Parvana. My Name is Parvana confirms Parvana as one of the great characters of children's literature.
... powerful and effective...
This passionate volume stands on its own, though readers new to the series and to Ellis' overall body of work will want to read every one of her fine, important novels. Readers will learn much about the war in Afghanistan even as they cheer on this feisty protagonist.
