The Breadwinner Series Bundle - Deborah Ellis - ★★★★

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AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis
SERIES: The Breadwinner, #1-4
GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction
RATING: 4 stars.

Book 1:The Breadwinner introduces us to Parvana, a gutsy 13 year old living with her family under Talib-controlled Afghanistan. After her father is arrested without any reason, she decides to dress up as a boy in order to fend for her family. In the course of time, she discovers an ex-school friend, Shauzia, who has resorted to the same method to support her dreams of going to France and sitting in lavender fields. The book narrates the story of both these little girls and their bravery and struggle to be the breadwinner. - 4 stars.

Book 2: Parvana's Journey focuses on Parvana's quest for her mother and the various children she meets on the way. This book is the most hard-hitting in terms of impact and some scenes can cause you bitter anguish. - 3.75 stars.

Book 3: Mud City changes the narrative to Shauzia and talks of her life after Book 1. Do her dreams of going to France come true? Does her life become easier with the decisions she makes? - 3.25 stars.

The Breadwinner series was originally intended as a trilogy. But with popular demand to know what happens to Parvana, Deborah Ellis wrote the 4th book: My Name Is Parvana. This last book talks of both Parvana and Shauzia and their lives in the post-Talib Afghanistan. Do their lives change for the better when the Americans take over? - 4 stars.

Though the books don't use the term "Bacha posh" anywhere, they still give us a glimpse into this common Afghan practice where girls dressed as boys so that they could provide for their families. At the same time, the books show us the deteriorated quality of life and thinking in that unfortunate country. No matter who is at the helm, it is the common citizens who suffer.

Deborah Ellis gives readers a detailed glimpse into the plight of children in war-torn and terrorist-governed countries. As she's writing for children, she does try to provide a reasonably positive ending in all the books, though at times, the endings seem a bit abrupt. But how would you define positive when circumstances are so dreary? As the very last sentence of Book 4 states, "This is Afghanistan. What do you want: a happy ending?"

All the four books are very quick reads, between 170-200 pages long. Because of the simple words and short chapters, they can be easily completed within a couple of hours. But the after-effect of reading them will last much longer.

Book 3 is the weakest book in the series. But overall, all four books are still pretty good. If you are apprehensive about reading an entire series, just go for Book 1. I'd not recommend this series to children below 12.

For those interested in movies, Book 1 has been adapted into a 90 minute long animated movie in 2017. It primarily focuses on Book 1, but changes the story quite drastically to make it a bit more child-friendly. It's a good movie, but it's not the same story as the book.


Update: February 2024: There has been a new addition to this series in 2022 Check out 'One More Mountain', which tells us what happens to Parvana and the others after the resurgence of the Taliban in 2021.

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