Parvana Timeline and Summary

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• Parvana's mad because since the Taliban has taken over Kabul, girls can't go to school or leave the house without a man.
• She's the lucky one though—at least she can leave the house when she helps her father walk to and from the market each day so he can make money reading letters.
• At home, Parvana seems like a typical eleven-year-old. She fights with her older sister and has chores, like fetching the water.
• There isn't much to do in their little apartment—most of their belongings have been destroyed by bombs or stolen—so Father tells stories after dinner.
• He tells a story of a girl named Malali, who leads the Afghan troops to win a battle against the British.
• But then one night Taliban soldiers break into the apartment and kidnap Father; they don't like that he is an educated man, and to make matters worse, he went to school in England.
• As he is being dragged away from his family, Father says, "Take care of the others, my Malali" (2.78) to Parvana. Yup—the pressure's officially on.
• Mother and Parvana go the prison where Father is being held, but it's no use; he's going to be there for awhile, and their protests against this just get them both beaten.
• This is way too much for Mother to handle, and she just lies in bed for days.
• Parvana goes to the market to get some food for the family, and she runs into Mother's friend from the women's group, Mrs. Weera.
• Mrs. Weera, a former physical education teacher, rallies the team back together, so to speak.
• Everyone decides that it's a great idea for Parvana to pretend she is their male cousin, Kaseem, so she can make money at the market. Everyone except Parvana, that is.
• But while she is hesitant at first, Parvana comes around, so they chop off her hair and dress her in her dead brother's clothes.
• Parvana does just what Father used to do—she lays her blanket in the same spot, and reads letters for money. She's pretty proud of herself.
• One day she senses that there is a woman peering down on her from the window overhead; the Window Woman starts plopping little gifts on Parvana's blanket from time to time.
• Later on Parvana runs into Shauzia, a girl from school—except that like Parvana, Shauzia doesn't look like a girl anymore because she is also pretending to be a boy in order to support her family.
• Meanwhile, Mrs. Weera and Mother are making big plans at home. Mother, a former writer, has returned to her craft and they are going to publish a magazine; they also want to start a school.
• At the market, Shauzia and Parvana team up, but realize they aren't making enough money to support their families.
• So then Shauzia has a great idea: they should dig up bones and sell them.
• The girls spend the day at the graveyard digging up remains and then cashing in. If this sounds a bit morbid to you, worry not—they keep spirits light by using some of the skulls as mascots.
• After a while, they earn enough money to buy trays so they can wander the market selling cigarettes and gum.
• Parvana and Shauzia head over to the stadium to sell to the soccer fans one day, but when they get there, they realize this isn't a game—and instead prisoners' hands are being chopped off by Taliban soldiers. Yikes.
• This is too much for Parvana, and she decides she needs a break from the market scene for a while, so she hangs out at home and regroups.
• But soon after, she's back at it again. She still gets gifts from the Window Woman and Shauzia tells her about her plans to leave Afghanistan with nomads and head to Pakistan.
• After Nooria agrees to marry some dude from Pakistan, Mother and the little ones make plans to take Nooria to Pakistan to prepare for the wedding. Parvana doesn't want to go, though, and basically throws a temper tantrum until Mother gives in.
• Mrs. Weera and her grandchild stay with Parvana.
• As a parting gift, Parvana gives Nooria a pen—to use first as a student, and later as a teacher. These are her sister's big dreams, and the reason she is going to Pakistan.
• During an awful storm, Parvana ducks into an old building for cover. She falls asleep, and when she awakens she finds this girl, Homa, who is running from the Taliban.
• Pretending to be Malali, Parvana rescues Homa and brings her back to the apartment. Once they get there, though, Homa delivers the bad news that she's come from Mazar because the Taliban has taken over the area… and Mazar is where Parvana's family is headed.
• Parvana gets depressed, and is worried sick about her family in Pakistan.
• But one day as she comes home from the marketplace, she sees Father at their apartment—he's finally been released from prison, and though he is quite weak, he is alive.
• Mrs. Weera, Homa, and Parvana nurse Father back to health, and Parvana feels proud to work to provide Father with the medicine he needs.
• Mrs. Weera hears that people in Mazar have all left and are living in refugee camps, so Father decides that he and Parvana will go to find their family.
• As a way to say good-bye to the Window Woman, Parvana plants flowers below her window; she swears she sees her wave.
• Before leaving, she says so long to Shauzia who is also heading out, and they plan to meet again in twenty years in front of the Eiffel Tower.
• On the way out of town, Parvana is eager to see what the future will bring and sees the sun shining on Mount Parvana.