The Breadwinner: A Graphic Novel (Adapted)
Deborah Ellis's bestselling novel The Breadwinner, now available as a stunningly illustrated graphic novel.
This beautiful graphic-novel adaptation of The Breadwinner animated film tells the story of eleven-year-old Parvana, who must disguise herself as a boy to support her family during the Taliban's rule in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
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 having forbidden books, 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.
Readers will want to linger over this powerful graphic novel with its striking art and inspiring story.
Key Text Features
speech bubbles
captions
historical note
Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).
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DEBORAH ELLIS is the author of The Breadwinner, which has been published in thirty languages. She has won the Governor General's Award, the Middle East Book Award, the Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. A recipient of the Order of Canada, Deborah has donated more than $2 million in royalties to organizations such as Right to Learn Afghanistan, Mental Health Without Borders and the UNHCR. She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.
NORA TWOMEY is co-founder and creative director of Cartoon Saloon, and was co-director of their Oscar(R) nominated animated feature The Secret of Kells and head of story on the follow-up film, the Oscar(R) nominated Song of the Sea. Nora is the director of The Breadwinner, an animated feature film adaptation of Deborah Ellis's best-selling children's novel.
Aircraft Pictures is an independent scripted content production company creating quality entertainment for a worldwide audience, ranging from independent feature films to high-end television series. Aircraft has offices in Toronto and Los Angeles.
Cartoon Saloon is a two-time Academy Award nominee for the 2010 film The Secret of Kells and 2014's Song of the Sea. The studio was formed in 1999 by Paul Young, Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey, and is based in Kilkenny, Ireland.
Melusine Productions is based in Luxembourg. They specialize in animated films and documentaries. Recent films include the award-winning Song of the Sea and Ernest & Celestine.
All girls [should read] The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis.
-- "Malala Yousafzai, New York Times"A great kids' book ... a graphic geopolitical brief that's also a girl-power parable.-- "Newsweek"
... an exceptional story that enlightens the reader about circumstances beyond comprehension and helps students understand that all of us in this global community share the same hopes, dreams, and fears.-- "Resource Links"
[The books in the Breadwinner series] are terrifying indictments of what war can bring to children and a powerful testament to the ingenuity and strength of young people in times of terror.-- "Book Links"
... a book ... about the hard times -- and the courage -- of Afghan children.-- "Washington Post"
