Afgan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan

Afgan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan

Written by: Tony O'Brien and Mike Sullivan
Photographs by: Tony O'Brien

Upper Elementary, Junior High and High School Grades

"This handsome photo-essay features contemporary Afghan children ranging in age from 8 to 18 years. They were asked about their families, lives, and hopes for the future. The young people's straightforward statements tell much about the devastating effects of decades of war. Some of them are still able to attend school; others wish they could. Even the youngest children work part of the day, often at street markets or in their family businesses, such as rug making. Two 10-year-olds pick pockets to survive. The matter-of-fact way they describe losing parents, siblings, and homes to war is jarring. Overall, the book provides a sensitive, poignant, and respectful look at the lives of these young people. It avoids sentimentality and politicizing. While the book will need an introduction, it offers Western children insight into a country and society often featured in the news. This is a timely, relevant, and well-executed offering."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://www.vervegallery.com/?p=artist_gallery&a=TO&g=1&r=1&photographer=Tony%20O%27Brien

Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea

Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea

Written by: Greg Mortonson
Illustrated by: Susan Roth

Elementary Grades

"Best-selling author Mortenson told his remarkable story in the adult book Three Cups of Tea (2006). After getting lost while trying to climb the mountain K2, he found himself in a Pakistani village. This, as it turned out was the beginning of a different journey. Here Mortenson and Roth retell his remarkable story through the eyes of Pakistani children. After being rescued and nursed to health by the villagers, Mortenson wonders what he can do to thank them. Advised by a wise elder to “listen to the wind,” Mortenson becomes aware of children’s voices, children he has helped teach during his convalescence, and he decides to build them a school. The steep terrain and remote setting present nearly overwhelming obstacles, but finally, the school is opened with great celebration. The picture-book narrative successfully compresses Mortenson’s story by focusing on the elements most important to children: the stranger’s appearance, the drama of the construction, the happy conclusion."

Book List Review

Online Resources:
http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World... One Child at a Time

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Change the World... One Child at a Time

Written by: Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Junior High and High School Grades

"Hiking in the mountains of Pakistan in 1993, Mortenson got lost. He found his way to a small village where the locals helped him recover from his ordeal. While there, he noticed that the students had no building and did all of their schooling out of doors. Motivated to repay the kindness he had received, he vowed to return to the village and help build a school. Thus began his real life's journey. Mortenson's story recounts the troubles he faced in the U.S. trying to raise the money and then in Pakistan, trying to get the actual supplies to a remote mountain location. His eventual success led to another, and yet another, until he established a foundation and built a string of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mortenson manages to give the story an insider's feel despite being an outsider himself. His love of the region and the people is evident throughout and his dedication to them stalwart."

School Library Journal Review


Online Resources:
http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/literature-guide/printable/60117.html

Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan

Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan

Written and Illustrated by: Jeanette Winter

Elementary Grades

"This story begins with an author's note that succinctly explains the drastic changes that occurred when the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 1996. The focus is primarily on the regime's impact on women, who were no longer allowed to attend school or leave home without a male chaperone, and had to cover their heads and bodies with a burqa. After Nasreen's parents disappeared, the child neither spoke nor smiled. Her grandmother, the story's narrator, took her to a secret school, where she slowly discovered a world of art, literature, and history obscured by the harsh prohibitions of the Taliban."

School Library Journal Review

Online Resources:
http://unplugyourkids.com/tag/peace/

Wanting Mor

Wanting Mor

Written By: Rukhsana Kahn

Junior High and High School Grades

"Jameela and her family live in a poor, war-torn village in Afghanistan. Even with her cleft lip and lack of educational opportunities, Jameela feels relatively secure, sustained by her Muslim faith and the love of her mother, Mor. But when Mor dies, Jameela’s father impulsively decides to start a new life in Kabul. Jameela is appalled as he succumbs to alcohol and drugs, then suddenly remarries, a situation that soon has her a virtual slave to a demanding stepmother. After she’s discovered trying to learn to read, Jameela is abandoned in a busy market, eventually landing in an orphanage run by the same army that killed so many members of her family. Throughout it all, the memory of her mother sustains her, giving Jameela the strength to face her father and stepmother when fate brings them together again. Inspired by a true story, and set in a world far removed from that of Western readers, this powerful novel reveals that the desire for identity and self-understanding is universal."

Publishers Synopsis

Online Resources:
http://www.rukhsanakhan.com/wanting_mor.htm

Mud City

Mud City

Written by: Deborah Ellis

Upper Elementary and Junior High Grades

"Mud City is the final book in the acclaimed trilogy that includes The Breadwinner (a best-seller) and Parvana's Journey. It paints a devastating portrait of life in refugee camps, where so many children around the world are trapped, some for their whole lives. But it also tells movingly of these kids' resourcefulness and strength, which help them survive these unimaginable circumstances."

Publishers Synopsis

Web Resources:
www.un.org/works/Lesson_Plans/WGO/WGO_LP_RT.pdf

Parvana's Journey

Parvana's Journey

Written by: Deborah Ellis

Upper Elementary and Junior High Grades

"This sequel to The Breadwinner (Groundwood, 2001) easily stands alone. After her father's death, 13-year-old Parvana, disguised as a boy, wanders alone through war-torn Afghanistan looking for her mother and siblings who had disappeared in the tumult of the Taliban takeover of Mazar-e-Sharif. Early in her journey, Parvana comes across a baby, the only survivor in a bombed village. She takes him along, as both a burden and comforting company.

Taking shelter in a small cave, she discovers an angry one-legged boy who is starved for both food and human companionship. Imagining treasure in their cave, they dig, only to find a cache of bullets-a scene that epitomizes what childhood has become for these young people. The three continue Parvana's search, stopping for a time in an apparent safe haven on the edge of a minefield where an eight-year-old lives with a near-comatose grandmother. When their refuge is destroyed, the four children join a long line of refugees, arriving finally at a camp. A bittersweet ending offers some hope for Parvana and her family, but readers are left with a horrifyingly realistic picture of the effect of war on children. While the reading is not difficult, the grim content cries out for discussion. An unforgettable read."

School Library Journal Review

Web Resources:
http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/S00001973.shtml

The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner

Written by: Deborah Ellis

Upper Elementary and Junior High Grades

"Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, 11-year-old Parvana has rarely been outdoors. Barred from attending school, shopping at the market, or even playing in the streets of Kabul, the heroine of Deborah Ellis's engrossing children's novel The Breadwinner is trapped inside her family's one-room home. That is, until the Taliban hauls away her father and Parvana realizes that it's up to her to become the "breadwinner" and disguise herself as a boy to support her mother, two sisters, and baby brother. Set in the early years of the Taliban regime, this topical novel for middle readers explores the harsh realities of life for girls and women in modern-day Afghanistan."

Amazon.com Review

Web Resources:
http://www.woostersch.org/library/Breadwinner/Breadwinner.html
http://unjobs.org/authors/deborah-ellis

The Roses in My Carpet

The Roses in My Carpet

Written by: Rukhsana Kahn
Illustrated by: Ronald Himler

Elementary Grades

"This realistic story follows a day in the life of a young Afghani refugee who takes solace in the beautiful carpets he weaves. In a recurring nightmare, the boy narrator flees with his mother and younger sister, Maha, from the bomber planes that killed his father, then awakes to find himself in a safe but impoverished camp. At dawn, a muezzin calls him to prayer; he then attends school, followed by another call to prayer and finally goes off to his long-awaited practice of carpet weaving. For him, weaving is a skill that ensures "my family will never go hungry" and an outlet that allows him to create a world of color and beauty."

Publishers Weekly Review