Customer Reviews

Parvana's Journey

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read "Parvana's Journey" over Thanksgiving break. This book, the sequel to Ellis' "The Breadwinner", continues the story of Parvana, a young Afghan girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to help her family survive. In this one, Parvana's been separated from her mom and siblings, and her father has just died. She travels across Afghanistan, picking up refugees as she goes along (including an infant boy, a boy missing a leg, and a girl who believes she is magically protected against mine fields). This installment was even more heartwrenching than the last and it is truly the perfect novel to read at Thanksgiving time - it makes you remember what you should be thankful for.

When Parvana sets out on her long journey to find her mother, sisters and brother, she is a new person. For the journey she cut her hair and put on boys clothes. The Taliban is ruling Afghanistan and Parvana cannot be wandering around, alone as a girl. In the beginning of her journey, Parvana stops at a village, left in ruins after a bomb. While she is wandering around the village, she hears a noise. Not an animal noise, but a human noise. She looks inside the hut with the noise and finds a thin, crying baby. In front of the baby is the body of a woman, with the flap of her burqa (a long garment covering the whole body) flipped up. Parvana decides to bring the baby with her on her journey. She names the baby Hassan and treats him as if he is her son. Along the way Parvana meets two more people. Asif is a one-legged, selfish and angry boy and Leila is a curious, caring and young girl. Parvana does not get along easily with Asif and Asif tends to throw rocks at her and insult her when he is mad. Hassan can sometimes drive Parvana crazy with all of his crying and Leila wanders off into mine fields and goes into villages when they are being bombed even when Parvana tells her not to. The most interesting thing about the story is that even though she can get very frustrated with them and their not always nice to her, Parvana always shares her food with them (even when theres only a little bowl of rice for their food), shares her blankets with them and treats them as though they were never ever mean, frustrating or annoying to her. Parvana is a perfect example of the Golden Rule. She treats Asif, Leila and Hassan the way she would want to be treated.

I am a fan of Deborah Ellis' work, especially since I read Parvana's Journey, and The Breadwinner. Parvana is a young girl who must disguise herself as a boy to support her family in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan (The Breadwinner), and then must try to find them again (Parvana's Journey).
Parvana is a wonderful character: she is smart, brave and resourceful. She lives in a terrible place and time, but she never admits defeat. ALthough the things that Parvana goes through are horrible, her story is really one of hope. And gives real insight into the situation in Afghanistan, and what people have to face there. Very readable, very relevant -- I highly reccomend this book.

This book is an emotional loopty-loop. It really brought to life the poverty and hunger that "we" feel is so far away...death,,,killing,,,mourning,,,sorrow and graves were plentyful in this book. It shows the world the social issues from a resident's perspective. Although there were many sad times in the book, it was well written and deserves to be a bestseller. (hopefully this book will push ppl to join peace corps. to Afganistan)

Thank you, Deborah Ellis, for Parvana's Journey. This is book two in a trilogy of Ellis books about life in war-torn Afghanistan. The book is written in a very simple style, which does well to draw in reluctant readers. Be forewarned, the book is grim. Ellis does a fine job of presenting many harrowing misfortunes children must contend with when war hits home: land mines, starvation, death, and abandonment are a few of the events presented. The book is quite timely as we've been reading or seeing news coverage, on and off, for over a decade on Afghanistan. Ellis allows young readers to experience the tragedy the people endure there without traveling. It is difficult to read these books and not appreciate all that we have here.

Deborah Ellis is a weaver of tales. This book gets a person inside the head of a 13-year-old girl striving to survive the Taliban. In her journey, she gains a new family after she had lost her own due to the war. After reading this book, you get a better understanding of what children who live in war torn countries have to undergo in order to survive. At times Parvana wonders if she will ever get out of the cycle of death and war. "For a moment she wondered what she was becoming. Then she dismissed the question. `I didn't create this world,' she said to herself. `I only have to live in it.'"(128) The ending is very surprising. This book will move you to want to do something for the millions of displaced children in the world.

This book was filled with many moments of sadness and despair and some fleeting moments of joy. Most of all it is a realistically told story of one young girl's journey to find her missing family members while dealing with life as best as she can under the circumstances. The end is bittersweet when she loses the young girl she encountered on her journey and who she had adopted as her sister but finds her long lost mother.

There are many memorable scenes in this book but one that stands out vividly is that of a young girl shouting out at the planes dropping bombs and telling them to stop what they're doing. How many of us think about the many individuals who are suffering from a war that is not of their making? I think the numbers are too immense for me to comprehend. I hope the story in this book will stay with me so that when I next read an article about the war in Iraq or Afghanistan or wherever, I do not forget to think about the number of lives that are being affected.

This wonderful book is the sequel to Breadwinner. It is about a young girl, disguised as a boy going to northern Afghanistan to find her mother, sister, and brother. Parvana is living in Taliban occupied Afghanistan. Her father has died and she has no one to live with. As her journey continues, she meets many different people and they follow her on her journey. One of the boys is Hassan , a little baby she met in a deserted village. He defeneitly needed a guardian to look after him. Next,was Asif. She met this young boy as she wandered the lonely desert. He is a very rude and selfish boy. He always thought of ways to harass and make her feel unwanted. The sad part about him was that he had lost his leg in a bomb accident. The third and final person was Leila. She is a very talkative girl whose parents died in a bomb blast. Will the 4 make it to their destination, or will something treacherous occur which will bring them to an abrupt halt and end their journey. Read this magnificent book to find out how this marvelous story ends.

The thing I like about this book is that there is such a variety of characters. Thereis such a chemistry going on with Allof them together. Parvana is the strong, brave, silent type that will be ready to defend her fellow friends if they need her assistance. Hasssan is the cute little baby that everyone adores. Once in a while, he may seem like he is starting to bother you, but remember, their is a fun-loving kid inside. You can always go to him to bring a smile on your face. Then there is Asif. The little brat that annoys everyone and thinks he is the best in the whole world. If you are in a happy mood, do not go to him, because he he will just ruin your day, and if you are sad, he will defeneitly NOT turn your frown upside down.

There is nothing that I did not like about this book. It was a genuine piece of lliterature. An award may not have been given, but dag namet I loved this book. I saw no fault in it , whatsoever and I would defeineitly not criticize it.

The part in this book that I really like was when all 4 kids started on their journey. It brouight all the differences they had into one big lump. On that setting you could compare and contrast the different types of chracters and how they were. The only one you probably couldnt contrast and compare was Hassan because he was just a little baby. You could talk a whole lot about Asif because there were so many things that you could get mad at him for. Welloverall I just wanted to say this was a really well put together book and I hope I have the opportunity and privelege of reading another book just like it

Parvana's journey was a wonderful book; but there was something

wrong. I'm no writer but the ending stunk. If you read it, it would be a good idea to skip the very end( unless you want to be sad, of course) Other than that it was good. The author also could've let up a bit on the saddness, too. It would be less sad if not so many people died. The book did make you understand what it's like there and how lucky we are to be Americans. I read the book for my school's battle of the books program.

This book was the first I had ever read all the way through, without being bored! Every word brought me into the story, it was an excellent journey. You'd honestly have to read the book to understand it. I won't ruin anything, but the ending wasn't that in-depth. Despite that, I recommend this book for a class that hates reading. They'll love this book, just as I have.