One More Mountain - Deborah Ellis - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis

SERIES: The Breadwinner, #5

GENRE: Middle-Grade Fiction

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: The fifth book of the acclaimed ‘Breadwinner’ series, set in the year 2021 when the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan. An interesting continuation to Parvana’s story. Not a happy book. Can be read as a standalone, but better if you go through the series in order.

Plot Preview:

2021. Parvana is married to Atif and the mother of eleven-year-old Rafi. She runs a small safe house for girls, women and orphans who need help.

Parvana’s sister Maryan and Rafi are preparing to emigrate from Afghanistan to the US to further their musical ambitions, and the book begins with them setting off for the airport.

Unknown to them, that is the very day the Taliban will grab power once again, and their world will soon erupt in chaos.

Will Maryam and Rafi make it safely to the USA? What will happen to Parvana’s home when the Talibs return? Will Atif be able to take care of his family?

The story comes to us from the third person perspectives of various characters.

I had read the first four book of this series in August 2020, and except for the third book that was just about average, I had liked the remaining three. So this new fifth book, published about 22 years after the first book of the series, had high standards to live up to. To a great extent, it met my expectations.

While this is a book aimed at older middle graders and younger teens, don’t expect it to be a happy one. For such topics, happy books are almost like an insult to those living the truth. There are many frightening scenes and tragic events, as is suitable for such a setting. This is a book for education and empathy, not for enjoyment.

As the story is set in 2021, it begins in an Afghanistan that was just about learning to stand on its own with external support from the US military and other international organisations. But when the Taliban came back to power, the hopes of millions of citizens would have shuddered in fear and despair. At the same time, many would have strengthened their souls and prepared themselves mentally to face what was to come. A few would have started making escape strategies to avoid going through the same trauma once again. The characters in this book reflect all of these emotions.

It took me a couple of chapters to get into the groove because too many characters pop up at in the first chapter without enough of an introduction. Later though, the proceedings become much more comfortable. Though the story is standalone, it will work better for you if you go through the series in order, as only the earlier books tell us what made Parvana the resilient woman she is in 2021.

I don’t remember all the characters from the earlier books, but I haven’t forgotten Parvana, Asif, Mrs. Weera, and Shauzia. It was a treat to revisit them (directly or indirectly) in the pages of ‘One More Mountain.’ There are many other returning characters, some of whom I had totally forgotten. Sadly, I can’t remember Parvana’s younger sister Maryam at all, though I know she was present at least in the first book. I wish I could recollect if she was as annoying before as she is in this one. That said, her character shows us that no matter the external circumstances, some people are just unlikeable. Not everyone turns a saint during a crisis.

The portrayal covers both the pros and cons of the Afghan situation, and the writing is almost like an elegy to the country and its people. Though Deborah Ellis is a Canadian writer, she is also an activist and a philanthropist, donating almost all of her royalties on her books to such organizations as "Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan" and UNICEF. Due to this work, she has even been threatened by the Taliban. In other words, are OwnVoices writers better for such stories? Yes. But should we read ONLY OwnVoices works for such stories? No. As long as the rep is genuine and well-intended, and avoids that annoying white-saviour trope, all authors are welcome to write about humanitarian issues that are beyond race and culture and geographic boundaries.

The writing is quick-paced, but it is also too simplistic. It skims over the tragic scenes, possibly to safeguard the little hearts that will be reading this book from extra hurt. The adult in me sometimes felt like the book was racking up every tragedy possible, and the pessimist in me even wondered if this was going the way of misery lit. Then again, what appears as misery lit to us is actually the reality to many…

A part of me hated this book because it killed all the hope created by Book Four. But I accept that the story HAD to go this way. Who knew in the early 2000s that the Taliban would come back to power two decades later with greater viciousness than before? Is this just ‘one more mountain’ in Afghan history as the title suggests, or will this be a struggle of Hindu Kush proportions? Time will tell.

Don’t miss out on the author’s note at the end of the book. There is also a glossary detailing the meanings of the Afghan-specific words.

A shoutout to that beautiful cover that presents some key scenes from the book. (If you think you can see Talibs in a teacup in one of the panels, you are right! 😁)

All in all, a worthy conclusion to the Breadwinner series. Is it really a conclusion? Who knows! Just as Afghanistan has failed to move forwards, Parvana and her friends are also stuck in the series, just waiting for better days to come.

Definitely recommended, but preferable to those who have already read the earlier books in the series.

My thanks to House of Anansi Press Inc. and NetGalley for the DRC of “One More Mountain”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.