The Breadwinner Analysis

Kabul is the capital of Afghanistan, and when our book opens, the city has been under Taliban control for about a year and a half. The once-beautiful city where Nooria used to browse in "fine shops...

While the person telling us this story is definitely outside the book (as is always the case with third-person narration), they only have access to Parvana's thoughts and feelings and, as such, we...

We know this book is in the young adult literature genre because it features a young adult and is written for young adult readers—and that's about as YA as a book comes. The language and plot are...

The scene is bleak in Kabul, and the narrator never tries to suggest otherwise. How could they when their story is set in a city gutted by bombs and ruled over by an oppressive—and violent—regi...

This book is all about plot advancement. We don't spend a whole lot of time on flowery descriptions of things or hanging out with characters as they wax philosophical—instead we follow the action...

Do you know what the term breadwinner refers to? It refers to the person who supports a group, usually a family. So if your dad stays home and takes care of the kids, and your mom earns the money y...

It's Pakistan or bust for pretty much everyone as our story ends. Shauzia is traveling there with some nomads and Mrs. Weera is finding her own ride, while Father and Parvana have hitched themselve...

The Breadwinner is written for tweens, so the reading level is quite easy. The language shouldn't send readers running for their dictionary, and the plot moves along in a logical sequence. The tric...

Taliban Should be a Four-Letter WordWelcome to Afghanistan under Taliban rule, a country where women's freedoms have been stripped away and people live in extreme poverty. But Parvana—our main ch...

Afghanistan is about the size of Texas. (Source.) In the language Pashto, Talib means student, and Taliban is the plural form of the word. (Source.) Afghanistan elected its first democratic preside...

There's not so much as a secretly held hand in this book, but the violence—both on the page and implied—is enough to make this book best suited for slightly older readers. So while you can comf...

Eiffel Tower (15.74) Malali (2.61)Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Author's Note.2)Soviets defeated in 1989 (Author's note.3)Afghanistan civil war (Author's note.3) Taliban's attack on Sep...