Breadwinner Series

Book 1

The Breadwinner brings to life an issue that has recently exploded in the international media -- the reality of life under the Taliban. Young Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan. Because he has a foreign education, her father is arrested by the Taliban, the religious group that controls the country. Since women cannot appear in public unless covered head to toe, or go to school, or work outside the home, the family becomes increasingly desperate until Parvana conceives a plan. She cuts her hair and disguises herself as a boy to earn money for her family. Parvana's determination to survive is the force that drives this novel set against the backdrop of an intolerable situation brought about by war and religious fanaticism. Deborah Ellis spent several months talking with women and girls in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Russia. This suspenseful, timely novel is the result of those encounters. Royalties from the sale of The Breadwinner will go toward educating Afghan girls in Pakistani refugee camps. "...a potent portrait of life in contemporary Afghanistan, showing that powerful heroines can survive even in the most oppressive ... conditions." -- Booklist

Book 1

El Pan de la Guerra

by Deborah Ellis

Published 18 May 2004

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.

Book 5

One More Mountain

by Deborah Ellis

Published 4 October 2022

Mud City

by Deborah Ellis

Published 12 August 2003

Fourteen-year-old Shauzia, an Afghan refugee living in a camp in Pakistan, determines to find a way to fulfill her dreams of seeing the ocean and beginning a new life in France.

Parvana's Journey

by Deborah Ellis

Published October 2002

By an award-winning author, this novel tells the story of Parvana, travelling alone across a war-ridden Afghanistan in an attempt to find her familyAs international interest continues to focus on Afghanistan, this novel tells the human story behind the headlinesTackles the topical issues of landmines and refugee campsBased on impeccable research in an Afghan refugee campLike The Breadwinner, this is an engrossing and deeply moving story about a child reacting courageously to difficult eventsThe author has been to Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan and Russia and listened to many stories like Parvana's

My Name is Parvana

by Deborah Ellis

Published 25 September 2012

Selected for the USBBY Outstanding International Book List In this long - awaited sequet 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.