Parvana's Journey

Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. Because the men in the village are going to sell her to the Taliban (Chapter 1)

2. A history teacher (Chapter 2)

Short Answer

1. There are only men at Parvana’s father’s funeral because “[t]he Taliban didn’t like women walking around on their own.” Parvana deals with this situation by disguising herself as a boy so she can attend the funeral. (Chapter 1)

2. Parvana wants to find her family who were separated from her and her father before the Taliban invaded Kabul. She decides to stay in the village for one week, since it is too dangerous for her to travel through Afghanistan alone. (Chapter 1)

3. Parvana sees a woman who is wailing and overcome by grief. She tries to stop and talk to the woman, but her “eyes were dead” so Parvana leaves her to continue her journey. (Chapter 2)

Chapters 3-6

Reading Check

1. Move into the houses (Chapter 3)

2. Dari (Chapter 3)

3. Because she sees Taliban soldiers in the distance (Chapter 3)

4. Sitting with Asif (Chapter 5)

Short Answer

1. Parvana comes across an abandoned baby whose mother was “crushed under the rubble.” She decides to take care of the baby and is able to find some food in the house and a stream to clean him in. She names him Hassan and brings him on her journey. (Chapter 3)

2. Parvana decides to rest with Hassan at a nearby cave. There she meets Asif, a child living in the cave who is missing a leg. (Chapter 4)

3. Parvana tells Asif about Alexander the Great and how people gave their treasures to him as he came through towns. Asif and Parvana decide to check their cave for treasure and are delighted when they uncover a hidden box; however, they see the box is not filled with valuables, but with bullets. (Chapter 6)

Chapters 7-10

Reading Check

1. They ran out of food. (Chapter 8)

2. He offers to carry Hassan. (Chapter 8)

3. They sing together. (Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. In a small town, Parvana and Asif offer to work for food. Parvana cleans a chicken coop for money, but the food is only enough for herself and not for Asif and Hassan. As a result, they steal some eggs and a chicken before they leave. (Chapter 8)

2. Parvana realizes that the three of them have upset stomachs because she forgot to boil the water before drinking it. Exhausted and frustrated, Parvana and Asif begin to throw rocks at each other as they quarrel. When a rock suddenly causes a nearby explosion, they realize they are next to a minefield. (Chapter 10)

Chapters 11-14

Reading Check

1. Her grandmother (Chapter 11)

2. From people who have been killed on the minefield (Chapter 12)

3. A sore with “small white worms wiggling in it” (Chapter 13)

4. How to read (Chapter 14)

Short Answer

1. Parvana decides to stay for a while with Leila and her grandmother. The first thing she wants to do is to help clean up the property. It “smell[s] of rotting meat,” there are various types of litter and animal carcasses, and there is a small, dirty mud house. (Chapter 12)

2. Green Valley is the name that Parvana gives Leila’s property after deciding to stay there. The children clean up the house and the surrounding area and they protect their sources of food, build a better latrine, clean themselves and the house, and help the grandmother go outside for fresh air. (Chapter 14)

Chapters 15-18

Reading Check

1. Children (Chapter 15)

2. The pages of To Kill a Mockingbird (Chapter 16)

Short Answer

1. As autumn approaches, more and more planes drop bombs in the surrounding area. One day, as the children celebrate finding a goat for dinner, bombs get closer and one destroys Green Valley. (Chapter 15)

2. Leila is initially upset and angry with Parvana for keeping her from trying to save her grandmother the night that the bombs destroyed Green Valley, but she eventually understands that Parvana was trying to protect Leila as her “big sister.” (Chapters 15-17)

3. As the children continue their journey, they begin to encounter other people who have been displaced by the bombs. They ask for food, but most of the displaced people are in the same position as the children and have no food. (Chapters 17-18)

Chapters 19-21

Reading Check

1. A letter so they can receive food from the World Food Programme bakery and a plastic sheet for housing (Chapter 19)

2. They tell her to “cover up” because she is a woman (Chapter 20)

Short Answer

1. Parvana and the other children find shelter at a camp for IDPs, but it is overcrowded and has limited resources: There is very little food and inadequate housing and medical facilities. (Chapter 19)

2. After a convoy drops food on a nearby minefield, Leila rushes out to collect it, and she is killed by an exploding mine. Parvana risks her life to collect the body and finally sees her mother. (Chapter 20)