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The Breadwinner
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Plot Summary of The Breadwinner
"11 year old Parvana is trying to grow up in war-torn Afghanistan. With the Taliban ruling the already extremely poor country, her family is struggling to survive. Women are under very strict laws and they are forbidden to leave the house without a man or show any part of their bodies in public. Parvana dresses up as a boy so that she is able to work to earn some money for her family.
Her parents and siblings go out of town for her older sister's wedding. The Taliban take over that city banning all people to travel to and from that city. Parvana finds herself alone, without her family. She leaves to try and find a food and shelter. She meets a couple of other kids on her journey and they become a family. "

Stephanie, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Breadwinner
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - present (2000-2010)
Political/social activism Yes
Plotlet: - women fighting for rights - surviving repressive dictatorship
Inside culture (main char) - Arab
Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14
Outside culture (society) - Arabic
Ethnic/regional/gender life Yes

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - unemployed
Age: - a kid
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - Other Asian
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - politician/elected ruler
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 9 ()
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - The 'stans

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Deborah Ellis Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Stephanie  

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