Customer Reviews

Mud City

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I agree with the School Library Journal Review because when I started this book, I felt as if I had started somewhere in the middle of the story. I had heard of the name Shauzia, Parvana's friend who was supposed to be in Paris enjoying life but this book seemed to assume that we knew a lot more about Shauzia than we actually did. I feel the start of the book would have been stronger if there was a little more continuity from when Shauzia last saw Parvana. Although, I felt Shauzia's pain when she lost all her hard earned savings to the police, this book did not touch me as strongly as Parvana's journey did. One of the reasons could be because Shauzia seemed to be more self-sufficient and dare I say, self-centered? I would recommend this book as a follow up to Parvana's journey but it doesn't get a five star rating.

Mud City by Deborah Ellis is the third really good book in the three book Breadwinner trilogy. In Mud City the main character is Shauzia. The book is about a girl who lives in Pakistan. Shauzia got to the refugee camp because she ran away from her family because they treated her bad. The story is about how Shauzia runs away from a refugee camp and goes away to another city and tries to work for money or beg outside of rich people's market. She lives with a lot of people then goes back to the refugee camp and stays there.

Mud City is a really good book that a lot of people would love. In the Breadwinner trilogy, Deborah Ellis really describes what the main character feels like and how they get through it.

This is the 3rd book in the Breadwinner series. I was disapointed that it was not a continuation of Parvana- the main character in the first 2 books. This story is of her friend from the first book. Still, very well written and an intriguing look at children living in a war zone and how they struggle with survival.
Hopefully, Ms. Ellis is working on the 4th book, because this book left with me wanting to know more. I would be very disapointed if there were not a concluding book to the series.

This book was better then the first two. The Breadwinner and Parvanas journey see my reviews. It isn't so gruesome and id really quiet fine. IT IS STILL ROTTEN! But maybe if Eliss keeps writing this trilogy it'll get better. But I doubt it.