The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is a fantastic story that takes place in Afghanistan in a city called Kabul. The story follows a strong-willed young girl named Parvana who lives under the rule of the Taliban. During the story, Parvana's father has been wrongly placed in prison because of his arrest food is very scarce in the household. Parvana must make the tough decision of dressing up as a boy to provide for her family. I believe this story is excellent for students in 4th and 5th grade. Stories like this always give students a more in-depth look into what life was like for people around the world during different periods. 

Lexile: 710L

Beschreibung:
Eine gefährliche Liebe ...
Die 15-jährige Farrin hat eine Menge Geheimnisse. Unter anderem, dass ihre Mutter auch nach der islamischen Revolution noch eine glühende Schah-Anhängerin ist, und so ist es besser, möglichst nicht aufzufallen. Aber dann begegnet sie Sadira und mit dieser Freundschaft ändert sich alles. Als aus ihrer Freundschaft mehr wird, wissen beide, dass sie einen gefährlichen Weg einschlagen, denn Homosexualität steht im Iran unter Todesstrafe.

Details:
Taschenbuch: 256 Seiten
Verlag: cbj (11. September 2017)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3570403564
ISBN-13: 978-3570403563
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: Ab 13 Jahren
Größe: 12,3 x 2,7 x 18,3 cm

Eigene Meinung:
Farrin ist 15 und ihr Leben bestimmt vor allem ihr Umfeld, ihre Familie zählt zu den besser betuchten Familien im Iran und sie besucht eine Schule für bessere Mädchen. Ihre Eltern reden immer wieder auf sie ein, dass sie nur nicht auffallen soll, weil sie Anhänger des Schahs sind und das kann im Iran ein Todesurteil sein, auch andere Sachen in ihrem Leben muss sie vor Andere verbergen.
Doch dann begegnet Farrin Sadira, die sie sofort in ihren Bann zieht und Farrin beginnt ihr Leben zu ändern, aber ihre Freundschaft wird mehr und auch das kann im Iran tödlich sein...
Mit "Wenn der Mond am Himmel steht, denk ich an dich" schafft Deborah Ellis ein Buch, was wirklich schwere Kost ist. Das Buch schafft es bereits in den ersten Seiten, den Leser emotional mit in die Geschichte zu ziehen.

An der Stelle nehme ich einfach mal die Widmung des Buches, die schon vieles aussagt:
,,Für alle, die vernichtet wurden, weil sie geliebt haben, und alle, die noch lieben und der Unterdrückung tanzend und lachend entgegentreten.“
- Aus,,Wenn der Mond am Himmel steht, denke ich an dich“ von Ellis, Deborah, cbj-Verlag

Nicht nur, dass sich das Lebensumfeld schon durch die Revolution durchgeschüttelt ist, auch der Zwiespalt zwischen der Loyalität zur Familie und der eigene Entfaltung macht Farrin sehr zu schaffen. Doch Sadira verändert alles und genau das ist es, was Farrin und sie in grosse Gefahr bringen wird...
Die Widmung im Buch lässt schon darauf schliessen, dass das Buch eine schwierige Geschichte enthält und auch die Altersangabe ist mit 13 Jahre ist etwas tief gegriffen, weil das Buch schon viele Fragen aufwirft und auch die Liebe zwischen den Beiden, die so nicht erblühen darf, weil es illegal im Iran ist, lässt den Leser einfach mitfühlen, weil man emotional tief in die Geschichte geführt wird.
Das Buch zeigt, dass das Leben von Farrin in vielen Facetten sehr komplex ist und gerade die Macht der Familie und des Staats ist allgegenwärtig und das macht es für Farrin sehr schwierig.
Der Stil von Deborah Ellis ist fesselnd, aber auch eindringend, man legt das Buch nicht wirklich gerne aus der Hand und die Geschichte ist einfach so gut durchdacht, auch wenn das Ende etwas offen bleibt, was aber vielleicht auch im Leben so ist. Das Buch steckt so voller Tragik und ist auch traurig, aber das passt auch in die ganze Geschichte.
Man mag vielleicht meinen, bei nicht mal 250 Seiten, die zu lesen sind, wäre die Geschichte nicht ausreichend betrachtet, aber genau das täuscht, weil das Buch einfach über die Seiten hinaus zum Nachdenken anregt und auch das Lebensbild verändern kann, weil der Unterschied zwischen unsere Einstellung in Deutschland und der im Iran ist schon immens. Man behält die Geschichte im Kopf und denkt immer wieder an Farrin und Sadira, die einfach zwei sehr authentische und tiefgehende Protagonisten sind.

Fazit:
"Wenn der Mond am Himmel steht, denk ich an dich" ist ein Buch, was keine leichte Kost ist, es scheidet viele Themen an, über die man sonst nicht offen im Iran anspricht und auch die beiden Protagonisten hinterlassen ein tiefes Gefühl und man leidet sehr mit den Beiden, einfach weil sie zeigen, wie schwer es sein kann, wenn das Umfeld gegen die Liebe ist und auch das Gesetz das als "schlecht" oder "unrein" empfindet und auch, wie gefährlich lieben in anderen Länder der Erde sein kann.

And with My Name Is Parvana, this amazing series comes to an end. I had an wonderful and heartbreaking experience reading this series and I would reread these books again and again for years to come. I adored all of these books. Each one has a very important story to tell. Each one is a story that must be told. All four books contain a message, a story, a lesson which we should learn about the people living in Afghanistan, especially the women.

Deborah Ellis did a fantastic job in researching the country of Afghanistan. She went above and beyond to bring their stories to life for Western audiences to understand the atrocities that happen there. I love her writing style so much. It's blunt. She doesn't shy away from telling you that women are being tortured, raped, and murdered constantly. And though these books contain such heavy topics, I think it's important that we read them. Not just adults, but children, too. It's important that we read and understand that these things happen in the world and from learning about these horrible acts, we can prevent them from happening in the future. These books teach us that through education, through acceptance and love and empathy, we can get to a better place and help each other to find said place. Ellis writes her characters to be such brave and loving people.

Seeing Parvana and how strong and brave she has become by the end of this series is so wonderful. I love how she fought so hard despite all the hardships thrown her way. In fact, so many characters in this book continue to get up and fight even if it seems hopeless. Asif, Sauzia, Mrs. Weera, Parvana, they are such amazingly strong and brave characters. So real and authentic. I admire them greatly. I won't go on about how much I love these characters because that will bring me to spoiler territory, but you should definitely read these books to find out how these characters come together to overcome all the strife surrounding their lives.

If you've read all the previous books, then continue on. This book gives the read hope. Not a false hope either. It's not telling you things are going to be better from this point on. It's telling you that life is cruel and messy and sometimes, you want to just give up. But if you can find the strength to keep going, it'll all be worth it. It's a fantastic series if you want to learn more about Afghanistan or the women living therein. It's a great series if you want to find just a little bit of hope out there. I highly recommend you read The Breadwinner series. They are such amazing books!

After reading Parvana's Journey, I decided to hop right into Mud City to see what will happen next to Parvana and her family. However, once I started to read it, I quickly discovered that this book followed her friend Shauzia, not Parvana. That's didn't deter me from reading the book, of course, because I loved Shauzia in the first book and was looking forward to her journey since last we heard from her. I just had to change my expectations of what the book was going to be about. And is was such a fantastic read! Reading these books have been a wonderful experience. I'm enjoying it tremendously. They have been heartbreaking, especially this installment for very personal reasons which I will explain momentarily. But these book have been a valuable experience throughout.

I'm going to start off by talking about Shauzia. This is the first time we get the story through her perspective. In The Breadwinner, we see her through Parvana's eyes. We learn that she wants to escape her life in Afghanistan by going to the sea and traveling to France. At the end of the first book, we learn that Parvana and Shauzia make a promise to meet in twenty years on top of the Eiffel Tower to know that they were able to make it out safely. In Parvana's Journey, the only mention of Shauzia we get is through the letters Parvana writes to her. We don't actually see her. So this is the first time we get to learn more about her. She is a lot more hot-headed than Parvana is. She is someone who fights hard for what she wants, not paying any mind to the consequences. Shauzia is more of a loner and a fighter than Parvana, and I wouldn't have her any other way. She makes some foolish mistakes, but she comes out the better for making them and I'm now looking forward to learning more about her and Parvana in the last book in the series! 

Deborah Ellis continues to write about difficult subject matters in an approachable way so that anyone, children and adults alike, can understand and empathize about the wars happening in Afghanistan. I am learning so much about what happened in Afghanistan in the past for it to be the way it is now. Although, I remember some of what happened through personal experience. I lived across the Hudson when the World Trade Center Towers were destroyed. I saw them crumble down. I saw the sky covered in the thick, black smoke. I saw people running around, trying to get their families together. I heard yelling and crying and screaming coming every which way. I was stuck in traffic for five hours in a ride that should have taken ten minutes. All of that is still fresh in my mind. So reading about that in this book, it was so hard for me... but I'm glad to see that this book didn't shy away from mentioning that terrible event. I'm glad it's being talked about and written about and taught to younger kids. That this book shows that there's good and bad everywhere. That even though what happened in New York that day still haunts and hurts a lot of us here in the States, that there are people in Afghanistan who are hurt by those same events and that they, too, want the violence and suffering to stop. Just knowing that this book is out there for kids to read and learn that not everyone is cruel gives me hope.

I'm going to stop now. Reading Mud City and then writing this review has made me emotional, I know, but I had to get this out. This is an amazing book. An amazing series! Please, if you have not read the first two, give them a shot. If you have, read this one, too! It's just as good as the first two. Read it to your kids, if you have any, or just read it for yourself. They are such great books and I highly recommend them.

And now I'm off to read the final book in The Breadwinner series. I'm a bit worried to see how everything is going to end, but there's no way I'm going to stop now. I want to know the ending and I can't wait to read My Name is Parvana.

After how much I adored the first book in this series, I decided to continue on with Parvana and her journey to find her family. I'm glad I did. This is a beautiful, heartbreaking, painful story about a young girl as she travels throughout Afghanistan under the Taliban rule. I'll put it bluntly, this book is a difficult read. People are dying, children are starving, and there's violence throughout so... it's not for the faint of heart. However, I highly recommend you read this book if you've read the first one and appreciated the story within.

Parvana is still an incredible character. In this book, she is very angry and tired and looses patience quite easily with the other children. Can you blame her? Her entire life has been nothing but strife and chaos. She's a young girl who knows war and only war. And it's getting to her. I felt so strongly for her in the first book, but I feel so much more for her in this one. She's been through so much already and you know she's only going to experience so much more pain still. Asif is a new character and I adore him, too. He starts off as a brat and, as the story continues, he's still a brat but he acts more like a brother to Parvana. He's sweet and caring, he just doesn't know how to show it. Another character that's new to the story is Leila. She is a lovely little girl with a vivid imagination who joins Parvana and Asif on their journey to find Parvana's family. She is free-spirited and so sweet; I adore her so much!

Ellis did a fantastic job in writing this book and creating these characters. She is bringing awareness to what happened in Afghanistan and is helping young children understand that part of the world a little more. She is urging for us to help in any way we can so that way people in Afghanistan, especially women and children, have a chance to live a life free from war and violence and starvation. I love that she wrote these books with the intention to help those in Afghanistan.

I love this book just as much as I love the first book in The Breadwinner series. I will continue to read the rest of this series because I want to know what is going to happen with Parvana. I have to see how her story will end. I hope she is able to find peace and happiness one day. I truly do. And I shall continue to read in order to find out! Please read this series! To learn more about our history, Afghanistan's history, and the history of many women who have lived through the war under the Taliban rule. It's a heavy read, but one well worth the weight.