Parvana's Journey

"this book was my favorite of the series. its characters, plot, and imagery was nothing short of amazing. both a laugh, a tear jerker, and a suspense, this addition to the first book is perfect. definitely recommend "

"Parvana and her father begin a journey to reunite with her mother and siblings who had traveled to a different city in Afghanistan for her older sister to be married, leaving Parvana behind in case her father is released from prison. War has made this journey difficult, and unfortunately Parvana's father dies at the beginning of the book, and she's left to wander on her own. It feels like she was unprepared. As sick as her father was, and seeing how much emphasis he had placed on education and her success, I would have expected him to have trained her in survival skills and also on memorizing the route to their destination. She mentions neither, as she wanders on, hoping to find the rest of her family.<br/><br/>Along the course of the book, she gathers other stragglers, children who have survived equally hard things, and family takes on a different meaning for them, and Parvana takes on the role of protector and provider, much like the first book in the series.<br/><br/>This book has a lot more sadness than the first book. While the first also had some descriptions of war, and of the mistreatment of women and prisoners by the Taliban, this one goes on to show the brutality of war and its impact on the land, on the country, on its people, but most especially on its children. There was a lot more death in this book as well. I think the author's point is to show just how badly people are affected by the fighting and what the affects of war are. <br/><br/>I will continue the series.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Favorite quotes:<br/><br/>"Stop that noise!" Parvana shouted. "Stop it! Pay attention to me!" She bent down and grabbed the woman by the shoulders and shook her roughly. "You're a grownup! You have to take care of me!"<br/><br/>Still the woman kept wailing.<br/><br/>Parvana wanted to strike her. She wanted to kick her and shove her until the woman shut up and fed her. She was shaking with fury and actually raised a hand to slap her when she took a closer look at the woman's eyes.<br/><br/>The eyes were dead. There was no life left in them. Parvana had seen that look before, in the camp for internal refugees. She had seen people who had lost everything and had given up hope that they would ever have love or tenderness or laughter again.<br/><br/>"Some people are dead before they die," her father once told her. "They need quiet, rest, a special doctor who knows of such things, and a glimpse of something better down the road. But where will they find these things in this camp? It is hard enough to find a blanket. Avoid these people, Parvana. You cannot help them, and they will take away your hope."<br/><br/>Parvana remembered her father's words. She no longer felt like hitting the woman. Since the woman could not help her, and she could not help the woman, Parvana picked up her bundles and went back down the hill. Then she walked quickly away until she had left the sound of the woman's grief far, far behind. (p. 25-26)<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>She opened the other bundles and decided they would probably need everything in them, as well. <br/><br/>That left her father's books.<br/><br/>She opened up that bundle. Four big books with thick hard covers and one small book with a paper cover lay on the cloth. There was also a copy of the secret women's magazine her mother had written articles for back in Kabul. It had been smuggled into Afghanistan by women who had printed it in Pakistan. Parvana was supposed to give it to her mother when they saw each other again.<br/><br/>"I'll bury the biggest three books," she said, "and come back some day and dig them up again."<br/><br/>Using a rock to help her dig through the hard ground, she made a hole big enough for the books. One book was about science, one was about history, and the third was a book of Persian poetry. She couldn't spare a cloth to wrap them in, so the red dirt was plopped right on top of the covers.<br/><br/>She patted down the soil, then kicked some rocks and pebbles on top so no one would be able to tell something was buried there. She thought of her father being underground with his books. Now he would have something to read.<br/><br/>With a heavy heart, Parvana picked up her bundles and the baby, and walked on. (p. 38)<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>"I don't even feel like me any more," Parvana said, talking more to herself than to anyone else. "The part of me that's me is gone. I'm just part of this line of people. There's no me left. I'm nothing."<br/><br/>"You're not nothing," Asif said. <br/><br/>Parvana stopped walking and looked at him.<br/><br/>"You're not nothing," he said again. Then he grinned a little. "You're an idiot. That's not nothing."<br/><br/>Before he could stop her, Parvana wrapped his frail body in a gigantic hug. To her great surprise, he hugged her back before pushing her away with mock disgust.<br/><br/>They kept walking. (p. 144)"