Dear Miss Ellis,

Reading your novel, The Breadwinner turned my perspective upside down and shook it up. I picked it up, thinking, well, it’s on the Battle of the Books list, it’s required reading, and I have to read it. I started reading it before I went to bed one evening, and ended up staying up half the night. I had seen and heard about the poverty of the people of Afghanistan, but I had never given it much thought. I was told about how people were starving, homeless, I felt bad, but it never really registered in my mind until now. I simply couldn’t perceive a world I had never seen.

The first few days after I finished the book, I spent some time thinking about it, amazed and saddened by what happens in the world. Life went on as normal, but every time I had a minute to think, or as I was lying in bed, my thoughts were on your book. Imagining walking in the streets of Kabul. Envisioning Parvanna’s struggle, her trepidation over the thought of her homes being destroyed by bombs, trying to take care of her family, and at the same time wondering if she would ever see her father again. Since my parents are divorced, I don’t see my dad as often as I used to, but the thought of having no idea what was happening to him, or if he was dead or alive, I can’t imagine it. My dad has always has been a phone call away.

I started to understand Parvanna’s dismay when it seemed she would never see her father again, and her pain every time a Taliban soldier struck her. I now see things in a new light. If Parvanna and Shauzia could endure pretending to be boys to feed their families, why couldn’t I make a better effort to help the people around me? I think that many people don’t see or understand just how fortunate we are. I see people forgetting all the time, throwing their half eaten food away, and leaving garbage for someone else to deal with. I also notice, that some times, that person is me. I find myself complaining about the most trivial things. I forget that many children would gladly trade their life for mine. I know that some people can’t comprehend how hard it is in other places, but I think in many cases they simply don’t want to understand it. They seem to want to ignore that fact of what is happening to people who they don’t see every day and forget how much they have. We have food, homes, and families that love us; while people in Afghanistan fight each other for food, and have to worry about bombs falling on their homes.

I feel like a veil has been lifted from my eyes. I realize that we are all connected, we are souls all standing on the same beautiful earth, and if we could reinforce our world by making it strong, unselfish, and prosperous; we could overcome the poverty and oppression that we have so long suffered. So why fight? Why murder and starve others because of what they believe or do? We are all human, and we need to take care of each other. This book truly awakened me to see the world in a new way, and I feel that I should step forward and contribute to help those who don’t have as much prosperity. I hope that this book will help others to understand the hardship of what is happening in Afghanistan, and understand that the world is a wonderful place. Life is a gift, and we should live it. Thank you for writing such an amazing novel!

Sincerely,

Signe Englert

Signe Englert

8th Grade

Thorne Bay School, Thorne Bay, Alaska

Teacher: Isaac Martin