Deborah Ellis Livres

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. In this powerful and realistic tale, eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city during the Taliban rule. 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 in the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden by the Taliban government to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy and become the breadwinner.

Kaboul est en ruines. Déguisée en garçon, Parvana fuit la ville, sous peine d'être livrée aux Taliban. Seule sur les routes, elle n'a qu'une idée en tête : retrouver sa mère et sa sœur. En chemin, Parvana rencontre d'autres enfants qui, comme elle, n'ont plus rien. Leur horizon ? Le camp de réfugiés où, peut-être, des membres de leur famille ont trouvé un abri. Et si la vie ne tient qu'à un fil, Parvana a le don de la rendre précieuse et de rallumer l'espoir dans les cœurs...

Fifteen-year-old Parvana has rebuilt her life after being reunited with her mother and sisters. But suspicion and fear towards the education of women have put them all in danger. When Parvana is held at an American army base in Afghanistan, suspected of being a terrorist, she must protect her family at all costs.

It's 2021 and Parvana and Shauzia, the brave protagonists of The Breadwinner, must now flee to escape new dangers from an old enemy. These days, Parvana runs a school for girls, but when the Taliban regains power everything changes in an instant and Parvana and Shauzia must lead the girls to safety.

It's September 1901, and ten-year-old Keeley and her father are making a fresh start, after the death of Keeley's mother, in a brand new town called Frank that sits in a valley at the bottom of Turtle Mountain in southern Alberta.From the moment they arrive Keeley knows she’ll love Frank. Not only can she and her dad live together, but in Frank there's room for children to breathe, as her dad would say. There's also room for mischief, and Keeley quickly gets into some, with the encouragement of a schoolmate named Peter. Peter dares Keeley to spend a night in the coal mine, where she discovers another part of Frank that's a little bit scary. Will things turn out as she hopes?

Shauzia is Parvana's friend from The Breadwinner. Now Shauzia has fled from Afghanistan, to a refugee camp in Pakistan. She dreams of getting away from the refugee camp and travelling to France. Escape is not so easy. But Shauzia is determined to find a new future for herself. This is a story on the human situation in Afghanistan.

Parvana's father is arrested and taken away by the Taliban soldiers. Under Taliban law, women and girls are not allowed to leave the house on their own. Parvana, her mother, and sisters must stay inside. Four days later, the food runs out. They face starvation. So Parvana must pretend to be a boy to save her family. It is a dangerous plan, but their only chance. In fear she goes out - and witnesses the horror of landmines, and the bruality of the Taliban. She suffers beatings and the desperation of trying to survive. But even in despair lies hope

Rollercoasters novels are popular because of the wide selection of fiction, appealing to girls, boys and mixed-ability classes. The Breadwinner is ideal for Year 7 or mixed-ability classes

When a Muslim boy is arrested at a high school on suspicion of terrorist affiliations, growing racial tensions divide the student population.