Create a soundtrack for your novel. Explain each choice and include where each song would take place. Include relevant links to the song/artist.

I created this song using Garage Band, and I think it represents the book Parvana in the times that she is sad or not feeling her best. It is a very dramatic, especially the drums, and I think it represents when her father got taken away by the Taliban, because Parvana was very worried and scared that her father would get hurt.

Write a reading list for people who enjoyed the novel with other novels they may enjoy. Explain each choice.

For people who enjoyed the book Parvana, there are many other books by Deborah Ellis in that series that they would enjoy. Some of these books include The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey, Mud City and My Name Is Parvana. In Parvana's Journey Parvana’s father just died, and Parvana is putting the last hand full of dirt on this grave. Parvana is in search of the mother and sister. Parvana passes by villages, and stops in a abandoned hose with a baby crying, and his mother is lying on the ground beside him. Parvana decides to take care of the baby, and she also decides to name him Hassan. Parvana decides to take care of baby Hassan in a abandoned cave. Parvana hears a loud voice going from the cave saying “go away”! Parvana wanted to face her fears and stayed calm. When Parvana look harder she sees a bay, named Asif. Asif tries to act like he is the best, but he is good at taking care of baby Hassan. Parvana, Hassan, and Asif take each other as brothers and sisters, even though Asif tries to act like he is the best. One day while sitting across the mine field, beside green valley, a girl named Leila approached them, and requested to take all of then to her house. Parvana, Asif, and baby Hassan stayed with Leila, and her grandmother who hardly moved finger. One day a mine field exploded and left behind a carcass. Everyone enjoyed it for dinner that night, even grandmother. Also that night The Taliban were attacking, and a bomb dropped on grandmother.

What are the key themes and issues in the novel? Write about three in depth and include links to other novels and films which explore the same theme.

Some of the key themes in the book Parvana include courage, friendship, perseverance. Courage is one of the main themes, because Parvana needs courage to get through her days. When her father gets taken off to prison, Parana needs to pretend to be a boy to get food and water for her family. If she got caught, her and her family would get punished, so she has to have courage to be able to go out into the streets every day, knowing she might get caught. Another theme is friendship. Throughout the book, Parvana makes many friends including Mrs Weera and Shauzia. Her friends are a big part of the book, and one of the key themes. Perseverance is another key theme. Parvana needed perseverance to keep going with her job each day. Without preserverance Parvana wouldn't be able to go to the market each day, and collect water for her family. 

Write a journal entry from the point of view of the character that you most identify with in the novel. Explore their responses to key events and characters.

Today the Taliban came into my house and took my father away. The knocked the door down and stormed into our house demanding for my father. My mother leapt to her feet, as Ali and Maryam hid in the corner of the room. Nooria just managed to cover herself in her chador, but I couldn't move. I sat there, frozen, watching the soldiers. Two of them grabbed my father while the others began searching our apartment, making a huge mess. I couldn't breathe, and I didn't know what to do. My mother screamed at the men to leave him alone, but they just demanded answers from my father. One of the soldiers hit my father and blood starting dripping from his face. None of us could move, except for my mother who starting hitting the soldiers with her fists. The soldiers hit my mother before dragging my father out the door. My mother lay on the ground while I sat there, still frozen, my heart beating at a million miles per second. I was so worried for my father. I didn't know when or if he would come back, and I lay awake all night thinking about it.

Based on what you’ve read so far, how do you think the book will end? What problems will be resolved? What will happen to the main characters other than the one you discussed in topic 1? Briefly describe the clues in the story that make you think this.

The book was ended nicely, and answered most of my questions I had wondered throughout the book. In the last chapter Parvana's father came back, and although he looked very different and older, Parvana knew who he was and was so thankful he had returned. Parvana's father didn't talk much, but when he got better she read him his books, and continued to go to the marketplace and get water. Parvana's friend Shauzia, who she met at the market, announced that she wanted to get away from Afghanistan so she didn't have to get married. Parvana was unsure if this was the right decision or not, but comforted her friend anyway. One night Mrs Weera came home and told Parvana that lots of people had fled Mazar, and were staying in refugee camps outside the city. She wonders if her mother and family had to do the same, but Mrs Weera was unsure. 

                

In which country is your novel set? List the different settings for your novel and write a brief report about each one. Include a map and record where key events take place.

The book Parvana by Deborah Ellis is set in Kabul, Afghanistan. Most of the book is set in Parvana's house and the marketplace, but their are also scenes in the prison their father was kept in, Mazar and on the streets of Kabul. Most of the key scenes happen in Parvana's house, including when the Taliban took Parvana's father away and when Parvana transformed into a boy. Their house is where all their family comes together, and where although troubles do occur, they stick together and always work things out. The marketplace is also a big part in the book, as this is where Parvana spends most of her days trying to make money for the family. She cut her hair and dressed up as a boy, and sold cigarettes, bones she had dug up and other things she had found. She also read letters for people. During the book, their father got taken to prison by the Taliban, and there is a brief scene in the prison, where Parvana and her mother are trying to let him free. Although the book doesn't tell us much about it, Mazar is also another place that was mentioned in the book. This is where Nooria went to get married. Ali, Maryam and their mother also came along, while Parvana and Mrs Weera stayed at home.

    

Research the author and write a short biography. Include: basic information about their life, inspiration for writing, other novels, any awards they have won, pictures, link to their other novels.

Deborah Ellis is a Canadian author who started writing when she was just 11 years old. She was born on August the 7th, 1960 and is 53 years old. She got her inspiration from travelling around the world and simply talking to the people she met. In 1997 she travelled to Afghanistan to help the refugee camps which is where she got the inspiration for Parvana. Deborah has written many books including The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey, which is the sequel for Parvana, Mud City, Parvana's Best Friend and Women of the Afghan War. She has also won plenty of awards such as The Vicky Metcalf Award for Children's Literature, Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature, Jane Addams Children's Book Award, Jane Addams Chldren's Book Awards for Book for Older Children and many more.

                                    

                                           

                             

Write about your initial response to the novel. Are you enjoying it so far? Why/why not? Which characters interest you the most? Comment on the writing style, opening chapter, character development.

I really enjoyed the book Parvana, because I hadn't read a book like it before. It was really interesting and I learnt a lot about the Taliban and Afghanistan. The character Parvana, who was an 11 year old girl really interested me because her life is so different to mine, and I learnt what she had to go through each day, and the struggles her and her family had. It made me feel really sorry for her, because her family struggled each day just to have enough water to drink and food to eat. The book is written from the narrators point of view, and explains the troubles that Parvana went through but still showed what was going on around them. The opening chapter was intriguing and told us enough about Parvana and her family to know what their life situation was, and to already feel sorry for them. It made me want to keep reading to find out where Parvana and her family would end up. In the first part of the book there is no real character development, the characters are just introduced and  we are told what is going on around them.