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Ellis, Deborah
PARVANA'S JOURNEY
Toronto : Douglas & McIntyre, 2002.
IL 5-8, RL 6.3
ISBN 0888995148

(3 booktalks)

Booktalk #1

Parvana is now on her own.  She and her father have been traveling through the Afghanistan countryside trying to find the rest of the family.  But now her father has died and Parvana is on her own.  Even though a nice family offers to take her in, she knows she must continue to search for her mother and sisters.  Dressed as a boy to avoid the Taliban rules, Parvana sets out on her journey.  She soon comes upon a baby whose mother has died in a bombing.  Parvana decides to take the baby with her.  At another stop, she comes upon a young boy who has lost a leg and is in poor health.  She takes him along also.  As the weeks go by, Parvana begins to wonder if life will ever be as it was before.  In a letter to a friend, she writes "It's hard to remember that I used to sleep in a bed and had to do my homework before I could watch television and play with my friends. ...  My life is dust and rocks and rude boys and skinny babies, and long days of searching for my mother when I don't have the faintest idea where she might be."  Join the children as they search for a place to be and a reason to go on.

Booktalk #2

How would you feel if your dad was in prison for no reason and you were separated from your family in times of war? In the book Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis, a young girl named Parvana is separated from her family during the war in Afghanistan. She tries to find her family and she doesn't even know what town her family is in. She doesn't even know where she is. While looking for her family Parvana meets other kids who are living on their own. The kids are challenged by a lot of obstacles as they try to find Parvana's family. They will have to find food and shelter without the enemy army knowing. Also, they have to get medicine for one of their sick friends or she will die. This page turner that has constant danger and excitement makes this book a must read. If you are a young adult who likes thrilling and action packed books then I recommend you read this one. What will happen? Will Parvana find her family or will she not? If you want to find out what happens to Parvana and her family then read Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis.  (Andrew T., student)

Booktalk #3

In a desperate search for her family, Parvana finds herself exhausted, hungry, and utterly alone.  She is a young girl in present day Afghanistan plagued by war.  Her only comfort, only refuse is a journal which she clings to for sanity.  She writes of her journey, bombed villages, hopeless eyes, and sleepless nights, all without knowing if she'll ever be in the comforting arms of her mother again.  Will Parvana ever find her family; or is her treacherous search in vain?  Find out in Deborah Ellis' Parvana's Journey.  (Dana Finegan,  dl-finegan@wiu.edu, college student)

SUBJECTS:     Women -- Afghanistan -- Fiction.
                        Sex role -- Afghanistan -- Fiction.
                        Family life -- Fiction.
                        Afghanistan -- Fiction.

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