Books in Breadwinner series

The first book in Deborah Ellis’s riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families, and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan. Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father — a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed — works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. The 15th anniversary edition includes a special foreword by Deborah Ellis as well as a new map, an updated author’s note, and a glossary to provide young readers with background and context. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children.

The fourth book in the internationally bestselling series that includes The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey and Mud City.In this stunning sequel, Parvana, now fifteen, is found in a bombed-out school and held as a suspected terrorist by American troops in Afghanistan.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, 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 final novel in the series is at once harrowing, inspiring and thought-provoking. And, yes, in the end, Parvana is reunited with her childhood friend, Shauzia.The paperback edition includes a new cover and map, and an author’s note to provide background and context. Royalties from the sale of this book will go to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children.

The third book in the internationally bestselling series that includes The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey and My Name Is Parvana.Parvana’s best friend, Shauzia, has escaped the misery of her life in Kabul, only to end up in a refugee camp in Pakistan. But she still dreams of seeing the ocean and eventually making a new life in France. This is the dream that has sustained her through the terrible years in Kabul. It is the dream for which she has forsaken family and friends.But it is hard to imagine herself in a field of purple lavender when she is living in the Widows’ Compound of a muddy, crowded refugee camp outside Peshawar. Even worse, the compound is run by Mrs. Weera, Shauzia’s bossy phys ed teacher from Kabul, who insists that Shauzia be useful and make the best of a dismal situation.Shauzia finally decides to leave the camp and try her luck on the streets. She is determined to earn money to buy her passage out of the country. Peshawar is dangerous and full of desperately poor and wandering children like herself, but she has Jasper, the dog who followed her down from a shepherds’ camp in the mountains. And she knows how to masquerade as a boy and comb the streets for jobs. She figures she knows how to survive.But life as a street kid is dangerous and terrifying, and even with the advantages of a strong will, brave spirit and good luck, Shauzia soon discovers that the old choices are not so easy any more. This is a powerful and very human story of a feisty, driven girl who tries to take control of her own life.The reissue includes a new cover and map, and an updated author’s note and glossary to provide young readers with background and context. Royalties from the sale of this book will go to Street Kids International.

A war is raging in Afghanistan as a coalition of Western forces tries to oust the Taliban by bombing the country. Parvana’s father has died, and her mother, sister, and brother have gone to a faraway wedding, not knowing what has happened to her father. Parvana doesn’t know where they are, but sets out alone to find them — masquerading as a boy. Her journey only becomes more perilous as the bombs begin to fall. Making her way across the desolate Afghan countryside, she meets other children who are strays from the war: an infant boy in a bombed-out village, a nine-year-old girl who believes she has magical powers over land mines, and a boy with one leg. The children travel together because it is easier than being alone. As they forge their own family in the war zone that Afghanistan has become, their resilience, imagination and luck help them survive. The reissue includes a new cover and map, and an updated author’s note and a glossary provide young readers with background and context. All royalties from the sale of this book go to Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children.

When Buhdeuce experiences a crisis of confidence, Swaysway decides it's time for Buhdeuce to make his first bread delivery on his own (with Swaysway secretly keeping an eye on him, of course). Unfortunately, Oonski the Great thinks having only one Breadwinner to deal with is the perfect set-up for a "Brioche Heist." Can Buhdeuce rescue his precious cargo and save his (inadvertently) kidnapped partner? We're not sure. But we do know that this book features an awesome aerial duck-fight. So that's reason enough to check it out, right?

Do you like riDUCKulous adventures? SwaySway and Buhdeuce are a couple of super cool Breadwinners with a love for all loaves! These two quazy ducks fly a rocket van from the west to the yeast of Pondgea, making sure everyone gets some bread up in their beak. Yip-yip! Even though they're always working, these ducks make sure to have 24/7 fun. Just remember: no matter the challenge, no matter what, they always deliver and never give up! Hold on to your tail feathers and get ready for some quazy adventures.

Fourteen-year-old Shauzia dreams of seeing the ocean and eventually making a new life in France, but it is hard to reconcile that dream with the terrible conditions of the Afghan refugee camp where she lives. Making things worse is the camp’s leader, Mrs. Weera, whose demands on Shauzia make her need to escape all the more urgent. Her decision to leave necessitates Shauzia dress like a boy, as her friend Parvana did, to earn money to buy passage out. But her journey becomes a struggle to survive as she's forced to beg and pick through garbage, eventually landing in jail. An apparent rescue by a well-meaning American family gives her hope again, but will it last? And where will she end up? Mud City is the final book in the acclaimed trilogy that includes The Breadwinner (a best-seller) and Parvana's Journey. It paints a devastating portrait of life in refugee camps, where so many children around the world are trapped, some for their whole lives. But it also tells movingly of these kids' resourcefulness and strength, which help them survive these unimaginable circumstances.

Do you like riDUCKulous adventures? SwaySway and Buhdeuce are a couple of super cool Breadwinners with a love for all loaves! These two quazy ducks fly a rocket van from the west to the yeast of Pondgea, making sure everyone gets some bread up in their beak. Yip-yip! Even though they're always working, these ducks make sure to have 24/7 fun. They have to watch their tails, though... there are monsters with three butt-cheeks around EVERY corner. Most importantly, these ducks deliver all the loaves with no leftovers! Just remember: no matter the challenge, no matter what, they always deliver and never give up! Hold on to your tail feathers and get ready for some QUAZY adventures.