Like so many books and movies on the subject, it is also eerily prophetic. Although the dialogue is occasionally stilted and the ending disappointingly sketchy, The Breadwinner is essential reading for any child curious about ordinary Afghans. A pint-sized version of Offred from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Parvana conceals her critique of the repressive Muslim state behind the veil of her chador. The daughter of university-educated parents, Parvana is thoroughly westernized in her outlook and responses. In the wily Parvana, Ellis creates a character to whom North American children will have no difficulty relating. A political activist whose first book for children, Looking for X, dealt with poverty in Toronto, Ellis based The Breadwinner on the true-life stories of women in Afghan refugee camps.

Set in the early years of the Taliban regime, this topical novel for middle readers explores the harsh realities of life for girls and women in modern-day Afghanistan. That is, until the Taliban hauls away her father and Parvana realizes that it's up to her to become the 'breadwinner' and disguise herself as a boy to support her mother, two sisters, and baby brother. Barred from attending school, shopping at the market, or even playing in the streets of Kabul, the heroine of Deborah Ellis's engrossing children's novel The Breadwinner is trapped inside her family's one-room home. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, 11-year-old Parvana has rarely been outdoors.

The breadwinner novel