Other editions of book The Breadwinner

Over two million copies of The Breadwinner Trilogy sold worldwide 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 wihtout 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 Breadwinner is a novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances.

Parvana felt the shadow before she saw it, as the man moved between her and the sun. Turning her head, she saw the dark turban that was the uniform of the Taliban. A rifle was slung across his chest as her father's shoulder bag had been slung across hers.... The Talib kept looking down at her. Then he put his hand inside his vest. Keeping his eyes on Parvana, he drew something out of his vest pocket. Parvana was about to squish her eyes shut and wait to be shot when she saw the Talib had taken out a letter. He sat down beside her on the blanket. "Read this," he said. Imagine living in a country in which women and girls are not allowed to leave the house without a man. Imagine having to wear clothes that cover every part of your body, including your face, whenever you go out. This is life in Afganistan, where the Taliban, members of an extreme religious group, until recently ran most of the country.