The Very Begging

      The book I will take pleasure in scrutinizing, comparing and summarizing is titled Parvana's Journey.  The title needs to be revised, it sounds basic, but does reflect the majority of the book. If it were me I  would have titled it something along the lines of  "Letters to Shauzia" since the main character, Parvana, does write to her friend, Shauzia, quite often in the book.
          To start a brief synopses is in order. Parvana's Journey is a cute little tale of a lost little girl who finds a baby, a impossible little boy, a imaginative girl and eventually her mother. She travels through the desert in the heart of war torn Afghanistan in hopes one day she might bump into her long lost family. The begins with Parvana's father dieing leaving her to fend for herself. The majority of the book consists of her wanderings through the barren Afghan landscape and find the not so green, Green Valley, where she finds refuge for awhile. At this point in the story she has met and is caring for people mentioned before named Hassan, Asif, and Leila, in that order;also she has is taking care of an old lady they all call Grandmother. Sadly this frail old woman dies to speed along the story. At the end of the story this quartet of children find a refugee camp, this camp has been deprived of supplies because of bombings and when a supply plane unknowingly drops food containers on a mine field silly little Leila decides to go get one and blows her self up in the process, and after a few minute dies in Parvana's arms. It is at this time that Parvana finds her mother witnessing this tragic death. It finally ends as a cliff hanger never telling what exactly happened to Asif and also presents the chance that not is at a happy end in Parvana's life. To add on the depressing ending it leaves with and open end and you wondering, but that's what happens in Afghanistan.