--- product_id: 17158410 title: "The Breadwinner (Breadwinner Series, 1)" price: "€ 20.29" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.at/products/17158410-the-breadwinner-breadwinner-series-1 store_origin: AT region: Austria --- # The Breadwinner (Breadwinner Series, 1) **Price:** € 20.29 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** The Breadwinner (Breadwinner Series, 1) - **How much does it cost?** € 20.29 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.at](https://www.desertcart.at/products/17158410-the-breadwinner-breadwinner-series-1) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description "All girls [should read] The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis." ― Malala Yousafzai, New York Times Over one million copies sold! The first book in Deborah Ellis’s riveting Breadwinner series is an award-winning novel about loyalty, survival, families and friendship under extraordinary circumstances during the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. Eleven-year-old Parvana lives with her family in one room of a bombed-out apartment building in Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city. Parvana’s father ― a history teacher until his school was bombed and his health destroyed ― works from a blanket on the ground in the marketplace, reading letters for people who cannot read or write. One day, he is arrested for the crime of having a foreign education, and the family is left without someone who can earn money or even shop for food. As conditions for the family grow desperate, only one solution emerges. Forbidden to earn money as a girl, Parvana must transform herself into a boy, and become the breadwinner. The fifteenth anniversary edition includes a special foreword by Deborah Ellis as well as a new map, an updated author’s note and a glossary to provide young readers with background and context. All royalties from the sale of this book will go to Right to Learn Afghanistan. Parvana’s Fund supports education projects for Afghan women and children. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution. Review: A Strong Heroine! - Eleven-year-old Parvana lives in Kabul, Afghanistan, under the Taliban, and this multicultural middle school book shows us what life is like when they're in power. She and her sisters can't go to school. They're not even supposed to go outside, and neither is their mother, unless accompanied by a man. Women and teenage girls must wear a burqa, which covers their entire body and face, except for the eyes. Parvana and her family used to live in a big house, but the daily bombing, which has gone on for years, has destroyed almost everything they owned. Now they live in one room. Her father supports them by reading and writing letters for uneducated people. Even this existence is threatened when the Taliban break in and arrest her father for the crime of having gone to school in England. "Afghanistan doesn't need your foreign ideas," they tell him as they drag him off to prison. Soon the family runs out of money and food, a desperate situation since Parvana, her mother, and her sisters can't be outside unless they're with a man. A neighbor woman comes up with an idea: Parvana can dress as a boy, because boys can come and go freely. She agrees, and wears the clothing of an older brother who died. Since she knows how to read, she earns money the same way her father did and becomes the family breadwinner. Then the family gets exciting news--Parvana's older sister receives a proposal of marriage from the son of old family friends. They live in north Afghanistan, where there are no Taliban. A journey is quickly planned, but Parvana can't go because the friends know she is a girl. Her family can't let her secret get back to Kabul. Parvana stays with the neighbor woman, but then bad news arrives: the Taliban have invaded the very city where Parvana's family went for the wedding. Now what will she do? This book was a fast and absorbing read. The writing style is simple but the story is so powerful I could hardly put it down, and the spirit and resilience of Parvana and her family were inspirational. Author Deborah Ellis visited Afghan refugee camps and talked with many girls like Parvana. She is donating the royalties from this book to Women for Women in Afghanistan, dedicated to improving the lives of women there. Read about current conditions in Afghanistan in this article. Reading level: 10 and up. Parvana, her mother, and her father receive beatings, but the description is minimal. The girl witnesses a public punishment where men convicted as thieves each have one hand chopped off. No gory details, but it is a shocking moment. Review: My absolute FAVORITE young adult novel - This is the most wonderful story. I cry each time I read it. I read it to 4th graders for two years and they LOVED this book. Each time we ended a chapter, they'd groan and shout, "Can we PLEEEEASE read another chapter?!" We studied Afghanistan and, to a basic degree, the Taliban as we read Parvana's heartbreaking and inspiring story. We compared Parvana's life to our own, marking all of the differences and similarities throughout the story. I used this as a basis for our "My World and Theirs" project, in which the students researched another culture and did a report on it, comparing their life to the lives of those in the other culture. This year, I'm reading it with 6th graders and I'm looking forward to the higher-level thinking we'll be able to do. I do warn that it has some graphic violence on the part of the Taliban, and the themes are mature and very sad. For this reason, I read the story out loud instead of the students having their own copies. I want to be able to guide them through those parts of the story so they can get the most out of it, rather than being afraid or upset while they read it alone. I like them to hear it from me because it is very emotional and I want to experience that with them. Overall, this is a phenomenal book and I recommend it to anyone of an appropriate age, probably at least 4th grade. Teachers, take note! Your students will be hanging on the edges of their seats. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #15,761 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #2 in Children's Middle East Books #116 in Children's Books on Girls' & Women's Issues #156 in Children's Self-Esteem Books | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 2,784 Reviews | ## Images ![The Breadwinner (Breadwinner Series, 1) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81f2D-UFJ+L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Strong Heroine! *by W***W on October 1, 2010* Eleven-year-old Parvana lives in Kabul, Afghanistan, under the Taliban, and this multicultural middle school book shows us what life is like when they're in power. She and her sisters can't go to school. They're not even supposed to go outside, and neither is their mother, unless accompanied by a man. Women and teenage girls must wear a burqa, which covers their entire body and face, except for the eyes. Parvana and her family used to live in a big house, but the daily bombing, which has gone on for years, has destroyed almost everything they owned. Now they live in one room. Her father supports them by reading and writing letters for uneducated people. Even this existence is threatened when the Taliban break in and arrest her father for the crime of having gone to school in England. "Afghanistan doesn't need your foreign ideas," they tell him as they drag him off to prison. Soon the family runs out of money and food, a desperate situation since Parvana, her mother, and her sisters can't be outside unless they're with a man. A neighbor woman comes up with an idea: Parvana can dress as a boy, because boys can come and go freely. She agrees, and wears the clothing of an older brother who died. Since she knows how to read, she earns money the same way her father did and becomes the family breadwinner. Then the family gets exciting news--Parvana's older sister receives a proposal of marriage from the son of old family friends. They live in north Afghanistan, where there are no Taliban. A journey is quickly planned, but Parvana can't go because the friends know she is a girl. Her family can't let her secret get back to Kabul. Parvana stays with the neighbor woman, but then bad news arrives: the Taliban have invaded the very city where Parvana's family went for the wedding. Now what will she do? This book was a fast and absorbing read. The writing style is simple but the story is so powerful I could hardly put it down, and the spirit and resilience of Parvana and her family were inspirational. Author Deborah Ellis visited Afghan refugee camps and talked with many girls like Parvana. She is donating the royalties from this book to Women for Women in Afghanistan, dedicated to improving the lives of women there. Read about current conditions in Afghanistan in this article. Reading level: 10 and up. Parvana, her mother, and her father receive beatings, but the description is minimal. The girl witnesses a public punishment where men convicted as thieves each have one hand chopped off. No gory details, but it is a shocking moment. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My absolute FAVORITE young adult novel *by A***E on February 14, 2014* This is the most wonderful story. I cry each time I read it. I read it to 4th graders for two years and they LOVED this book. Each time we ended a chapter, they'd groan and shout, "Can we PLEEEEASE read another chapter?!" We studied Afghanistan and, to a basic degree, the Taliban as we read Parvana's heartbreaking and inspiring story. We compared Parvana's life to our own, marking all of the differences and similarities throughout the story. I used this as a basis for our "My World and Theirs" project, in which the students researched another culture and did a report on it, comparing their life to the lives of those in the other culture. This year, I'm reading it with 6th graders and I'm looking forward to the higher-level thinking we'll be able to do. I do warn that it has some graphic violence on the part of the Taliban, and the themes are mature and very sad. For this reason, I read the story out loud instead of the students having their own copies. I want to be able to guide them through those parts of the story so they can get the most out of it, rather than being afraid or upset while they read it alone. I like them to hear it from me because it is very emotional and I want to experience that with them. Overall, this is a phenomenal book and I recommend it to anyone of an appropriate age, probably at least 4th grade. Teachers, take note! Your students will be hanging on the edges of their seats. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ a great book for the classroom *by K***. on November 9, 2025* My excelerated students are reading this so of course I wanted to read it. A very tragic story of what life is like for women in Afghanistan. Quick read. ## Frequently Bought Together - The Breadwinner (Breadwinner Series, 1) - Parvana’s Journey (Breadwinner Series, 2) - Mud City (Breadwinner Series, 3) --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.at/products/17158410-the-breadwinner-breadwinner-series-1](https://www.desertcart.at/products/17158410-the-breadwinner-breadwinner-series-1) --- *Product available on Desertcart Austria* *Store origin: AT* *Last updated: 2026-06-08*