A story of a different life (The Breadwinner - Deborah Ellis)

Member Name: jessyclown

Product:	The Breadwinner - Deborah Ellis
Date:	26/02/02 (4127 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: well written

Disadvantages: The story stops!

A year ago for many of us if someone had mentioned Afghanistan we would have heard of the country and maybe known that it had been at war with Russia. A few of us may have heard of the Taliban and the fact that they ruled the country. Less of us I am sure would have any idea what the Taliban rule involved. Did you know that woman were not allowed to work out of the house? In fact under the Taliban women were hidden people who had to wear a burqa which hid all of them from the top of their head to their feet.

After September 11th Afghanistan became a much more news worthy place and we learnt a lot more about life in that country. Afghanistan is no longer an unknown country in the middle of Asia. We may have seen on the television women wearing burqas, in fact, they were a great disguise for television reporters! The life of women under the strict regime of the Taliban was still not fully understood. The life of most people under the Taliban is still not fully understood by many of us.

In 1996 the Taliban militia took control of Kabul, the capital city. At that point Girls were no longer allowed to go to schools, women to jobs and books were burned. Life in Kabul changed totally.

The Breadwinner is a book about life at this time in Kabul. The story revolves around a prepubescent girl, Parvana, who lived with her family in a small flat. The family was well educated but their lifestyle was reduced to a subsistent one. The father is reduced to reading letters for people in the market place. When the father was arrested for having studied abroad to stop the family from starving Parvana took over the responsibility for earning she became the breadwinner.

The book follows Parvana’s exploits and adventures. There is the constant terror of someone finding out that she is not a boy. During her work she tries many different ways to make money. She starts by reading letters for people but moves on to other more profitabl
e jobs including digging up human bones in a landmine filled area.

This story is based on the stories told by people in Afghan refugee camps and so gives a picture of what life was like. Written from Parvana's point of view talking to people her own age.

My 11-year-old, daughter was given this book for Christmas and enjoyed reading it. I decided to read it and found that it was well written and easy to read. It gives an idea of how people still live in parts of our modern world. I think this book is aimed at children aged 9 to 12 but is a quick read for older people.

I would recommend this book if you have a child in the right age range you want to buy a present for.

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