Mud City [Paperback]

Deborah Ellis (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Fourteen-year-old Shauzia dreams of seeing the ocean and eventually making a new life in France, but it is hard to reconcile that dream with the terrible conditions of the Afghan refugee camp where she lives. Making things worse is the camp’s leader, Mrs. Weera, whose demands on Shauzia make her need to escape all the more urgent. Her decision to leave necessitates Shauzia dress like a boy, as her friend Parvana did, to earn money to buy passage out. But her journey becomes a struggle to survive as she's forced to beg and pick through garbage, eventually landing in jail. An apparent rescue by a well-meaning American family gives her hope again, but will it last? And where will she end up? Mud City is the final book in the acclaimed trilogy that includes The Breadwinner (a best-seller) and Parvana's Journey. It paints a devastating portrait of life in refugee camps, where so many children around the world are trapped, some for their whole lives. But it also tells movingly of these kids' resourcefulness and strength, which help them survive these unimaginable circumstances.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-Stuck in the Widows' Compound of an Afghan refugee camp just across the border in Pakistan, Shauzia chafes at the endless small jobs Mrs. Weera assigns to her. She longs to take charge of her life, travel with her faithful dog Jasper, and make her way to the sea and ultimately to France. She leaves the camp dressed as a boy to try to earn money in Peshawar but there is little work and the meager amount she does earn is stolen by the police. Befriended by a Western family, she misunderstands their ways and is returned to the camp. There, her leg is broken in a riot caused by her efforts to get food for the widows and children. As she comes to recognize her own strengths, she reaches a point where she can lay aside her dream long enough to return to Afghanistan with Mrs. Weera to help her countrymen. Like The Breadwinner (2001) and Parvana's Journey (2002, both Groundwood), this novel conveys a distinctive sense of place, describing in discomfiting detail the sights and sounds of the impoverished refugee camp and the poorest sections of Peshawar. However, the book has the feel of a story begun in the middle. Shauzia's friend Parvana is just a name. Readers know nothing of their previous connection and Shauzia's own history is sketchy. She is smart and likable in her generosity, but her change of heart is sudden and comes as a surprise. Buy where the earlier titles have been popular.
Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. In the third book in the Breadwinner Trilogy, orphan Afghan refugee Shauzia leaves the rough Pakistan border camp and joins other homeless children on the streets of the city of Peshawar. Her dream, left from the time before the Taliban when she was still at school, is to reach the ocean and a place called France. Instead, disguised as a boy, she must beg and scrounge for food and find odd jobs. In the end, she returns to the refugee camp and to the tough camp leader, Mrs. Weera, whom Shauzia thought she hated. The story is strong on message, and in a final note, Ellis fills in the recent history about Afghanistan, the Taliban's restrictions on women, and the millions of new, desperate refugees. Middle-school readers will be caught up in the cause and in the elemental survival adventure, especially because Shauzia is no sweet waif; she's mean, insolent, and rebellious. Her struggle with the rough Mrs. Weera reveals that they are both strong and brave. Royalties from the book go to help homeless kids. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Groundwood Books (June 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0888995423
• ISBN-13: 978-0888995421
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #411,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Explore the World > Fiction > Middle East
  • #67 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Explore the World > Middle East

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Education about culture made fun and intresting!!!, April 16, 2004

By 

"dramasnot6" (va, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mud City (Hardcover)

This occasionally tragic, yet captivating novel teaches you about another part of the world and its time of suffering.
Shauzia, a girl of 14 years fantasizes about living in France, after she escaped Afghanistan into a new and in her opinion tedious world of a Pakastani refugee camp. She escapes this camp with her dog and close friend Jasper and ventures into the harsh conditions of the city. Buy this book and be blown away as you learn about how a young girl and many others have to survive through begging, and worse. I would reccomend this book to young adults ages 10-17, but i'm sure it could educate many full grown people about culture and who helps others in times of need. So follow Shauzia into her life, and learn to have true empathy , sincerity , and curiousity about the poverty out there.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deborah Ellis' trilogy is awesome!!, December 5, 2005

By 

Chelsea Jo Adams "Mrs. Hauschild" (Mesa, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mud City (Paperback)

I couldn't disagree more with the 2nd review that gave the book 3 stars. Although I haven't yet read Mud City, I have read the 1st two books in the series twice- last year to my 6th grade class and again this year to the new class. Both classes loved it as much as I did. We laughed, we cried. The kids BEGGED me to read more when it was time to stop. As far as the stories being "gruesome," sure there were some graphic aspects to the story, but that's war. If you're going to write a story about war, it doesn't do it any justice to put rose colored glasses on. Ellis gives a realistic depiction about the life of Afghani refugees- you walk in their shoes- like it or not.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another good book by Deborah Ellis!, August 6, 2005

By 

Toni Masters - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mud City (Paperback)

Shauzia is a 14 year old girl, living in Pakistan who pictures herself living a comfortable life in France. She lives in the Pakistani refugee camp which is owned by Mrs. Weera, an Afghani suffragette. Shauzia is sick of her life in the camp, and runs away one night, finding herself in the large mud city of Pakistan. Dressing herself as a boy, Shauzia takes a job and makes new friends. She and her dog: Jasper, gather money and make friends with an American family, who help her in many ways, while also taking her back to square one. I found this book very interesting and a good book to read with 'The Breadwinner' OR 'Parvana' as they call it in other countries.