Summer Reads

Summer is a great time to rediscover your love for reading - fiction, nonfiction, poetry, literature....the choices are endless. In an effort to get you started, I would like to offer you suggestions..... I will provide one title and summary or review per week. This week, I would like to introduce a moving tale that was written by  Deborah Ellis, called The Breadwinner. I heard about this book many years ago, by friends who were interested in novels with a more intercultural perspective. It is a true story about a resilient Afghani family during the early years of the Taliban occupation. Below I have provided you with a brief summary of the book, as written by a fifth grade teacher in New York:

Twelve-year-old Parvana enjoyed going to school, living in a nice, loving home, and being a kid. That is until the Taliban--an extreme militia group that rules Afghanistan--took over the city of Kabul. Girls were forbidden to go to school and women from going to work. Women and girls are not even allowed out of the homes unless they are accompanied by a man. These days, Parvana only leaves her family's one room apartment to help her injured father get to the market, where she earns a small amount of money reading for those who cannot. When the Taliban bursts into their apartment one evening, Parvana's father is arrested. The family is unsure of how they will live without a man to earn money and go to the market with to get food. Then, they come up with an idea –now their survival depends on whether Parvana can convince the outside world that she is a boy.

If you have read this book already, chime in and tell me what you thought!