Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis

Title: Parvana’s Journey

Author: Deborah Ellis

Publish Date: August 2003

Publisher: Groundwood Books

Pages: 199pp

IBSN: 0888995199

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Historical Fiction

Annotation: Parvana is a thirteen-year-old girl disguising herself as a boy in the Tabliban-era in Afghanistan.  She sets off from Kabul in search of her missing mother, brother and sister and collects new “family” members, who have all suffered from the war.

Plot Summary: The sequel of The Breadwinner opens with the burial of Parvana’s father and her search for her mother, brother and sister.  Parvana, who continues to dress up like a boy, sets out on a journey to locate her missing family members.  On this journey, she meets other victims of war whom are around her age.  Together, they travel and become each others family, through hunger and sickness.  They end up in a camp of refugees and though do not get a happy ending, there remains hope.  Mud City is the final installment to this trilogy. 

Personal Response: I was so impressed with The Breadwinner, I had to read the sequel and will probably continue the journey with Mud City. Parvana’s Journey continues the theme or glimpse of women’s rights in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule. The story in engaging and at times extremely sad. A great series to open discussions about the affects war has on children and the rights Deborah Ellis is donating a portion of the book price to Women for Women, an organization that supports Afghan women.

http://www.womenforwomen.org/

~Reader’s Advisory~

Themes: Children who have to be braver then they are suppose to be.

Age Range: 10 and up

Subjects: War, Bravery, Afghanistan, Taliban, Survival, Historical Fiction, Independence, Poverty, Family, Government, Culture,  Women’s Rights, Children,

Series: Afghan Trilogy

The Breadwinner (2001)

Parvana’s Journey (2003)

Mud City (2004)

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The Secret Under My Skin by Janet McNaughton

Title: The Secret Under My Skin

Author: Janet McNaughton

Publish Date: 2000

Publisher: HarperCollin Children’s Books

Pages: 262pp

ISBN: 006008989X

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Science Fiction

Annotation: It is the year 2368, and Blay Raytee, a government work-camp orphan who has no birthday, no real name, and almost no memories.  In fact, her future seems as glum as her past. Until she is selected to help a powerful young bio-indicator, in which sets Blay on a path of discovery.

Plot Summary: The world has just suffered from a technocaust that has left a generation of orphans.  Blay Raytee, one of those orphans, is chosen for a special mission to help a powerful young bio-indicator name Marrella.  This sets Blay into a world of discovery as she is finding out that all may not be what it seems.  The secrets she uncovers may be the elements to help restore her past and the human race. 

Personal Response: A compelling story about a possible future.  Janet McNaughton warns people that too much technology can have a dangerous and devastating affect on the human race. 

~Reader’s Advisory~

Themes: Things are always as they seem.  You have the power to change them and/or help people.  Too much technology is not necessarily a good thing. 

Age Range: 13 and up

Subjects: Identity, Bravery, Courage, Orphan, Confidence, Acceptance, Government, Humanity, Dsytopia, Post Apocalyptic,

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Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes

Title: Invitation to the Game

Author: Monica Hughes

Publish Date: June 1993

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Pages: 192pp

ISBN: 0671866923

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

Annotation: Lisse has just graduated from school and is hopelessly unemployed in a dystopian future society. When she is placed in the Designated Area with seven other friends, the government invites her and her seven unemployed roommates to play The Game.

Plot Summary: Set in a dystopian Earth, Lisse and seven other graduates are fighting for survival in the decayed city. Hearing mysterious rumors about something called The Game, the roommates anxious wait for an invitation. When they finally get summoned to The Game, they learn that this alternate world of paradise and the game in which they are playing to track down a treasure is not at all what The Game’s main purpose is about.

Personal Response: Similar to Enders Game for me, in which I highly enjoyed. Monica Hughes creates a future that is both dark and deeply realistic with the advent of technology and robots performing humanistic occupations. This forces people out of jobs and into unemployment. I thought the characters were likable as each of them displayed a trait or skill that complimented the group as a whole. Collectively, you (as the reader) could understand the selection process upon populating the new planet as life there was in it’s prehistoric phase, making it important to acquire the precise group of people. A true survival story with optimism and hope for a better future.

~Reader’s Advisory~

Themes: Things aren’t always what they seem.

Age Range: 12 and up

Subjects: Dystopia, Boarding School, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Computer Games, Survival, Over-population, Government

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