- Parvana sits on a blanket in the Kabul (the capital of Afghanistan) marketplace using a chador to cover her face.
- She is listening to her father read a letter, thinking she could read almost as well… except for the fact that the Taliban—who completely run the show around here—have no tolerance for women out and about, let alone reading in public.
- As far as the Taliban is concerned, women aren't allowed to do much of anything, and because of this, Parvana, who is in sixth grade, and her sister Nooria, who is in high school, were sent home from school when the Taliban came to power. Girls are officially forbidden from getting an education.
- The Taliban didn't just screw up Parvana's and Nooria's educations, though—they also outlawed women working, so their mother lost her job as a writer for a radio station, and their family lost a whole income. In short, the Taliban has majorly screwed things up for Parvana and her family.
- For a year now, Parvana's family of five has been stuck in a one-room apartment. This includes Parvana's five-year-old sister named Maryam and her little brother, Ali, who is two.
- While Mother and the little kids and Nooria are stuck inside all day, Parvana is the lucky one and she gets out at least for a few hours each day to help her father walk to the marketplace since he's got a bum leg.
- No one bothers her when she's out and about, which is good since she's a pretty small eleven-year-old and doesn't pose much of a threat.
- Father tells the Taliban that Parvana's the only one that can help him walk since he lost part of his leg when the school he used to teach in was bombed. (Ugh.)
- Parvana knows how to follow the rules outside of the house, and she dutifully keeps her head down and never makes eye contacts with the Tallies. It's best to be "invisible" (1.8) because the Taliban like to beat and whip women.
- People pay Parvana's father to read their letters for them now; most people in Afghanistan can't read.
- Parvana can read, though, because her parents both attended university and believe strongly that everyone—even girls—has the right to learn (1.12). (As you might've guessed, Shmoop agrees completely.)
- Most of Father's customers speak Dari, which is good because that Parvana's most fluent language, though she can understand a little of Pashtu as well. Her parents can speak both languages, in addition to English. (Mother and Father seem super smart, don't you think?)
- The market is the place to be. Men buy and sell, while tea boys run tea between stalls. Parvana thinks running around the market would be great fun—way better than being stuck in the apartment—but what she really thinks would be great is to be back in school.
- It seems our girl majorly misses history class, especially learning about conquerors from the past kicking the bad guys out of Afghanistan.
- Now the Afghan Taliban militia rules the country, and these guys are serious control freaks.
- When the Taliban first kicked girls out of schools, Parvana was pretty psyched—no more math tests—but Nooria promptly let her know that she was being stupid.
- Education has always been a big part of Parvana's family, helping them land high-paying jobs and buy a big house with lots of rooms—that is, until bombs leveled the house.
- Since then, the family's kept moving, and each time their living environment got smaller, until finally they found themselves in the one-room (that's one room, not one bedroom) apartment they currently reside in.
- War has been raging in Afghanistan for twenty years, and Parvana has never known any differently.
- Time for a little history lesson: first, Afghans were at war with the Soviets, and when the Soviets left, they turned on each other. (See? We told you it was little.)
- Parvana has run from bombs her whole life, though lately it seems like Kabul is being spared and most of the war is taking place to the north.
- But the country is still under Taliban control. Taliban means "seeker of knowledge"; Parvana's father thinks religion should be about kindness not killing.
- The time comes for Parvana and Father to head home, so Parvana packs up the items they are trying to sell, which are mostly things from home that they can do without.
- With the help of a walking stick and Parvana's arm, Father hobbles along; he used to have a false leg but he sold it.
- This seems to be the latest trend, though it is often husbands selling their wives' false legs. What do they need them for anyway? It's not like they can go anywhere. (That's some seriously depressing logic…)
- Kabul used to be beautiful, but Parvana has only known it as "bricks and dust" (1.44); it makes her angry and sad to think of what has been taken away from their country and her family.
- Parvana tries to maneuver her father through the broken roads—she has no idea how women wearing burqas manage.
- When she mentions this to Father, he says, "They fall down a lot" (1.49)—and when he does, we understand that the very infrastructure of Kabul is unfriendly to women.
- Parvana sees her favorite mountain and remembers a funny story.
- When they first arrived, she asked her father what its name was and he answered: "Mount Parvana" (1.52).
- Good joke, Pops—but really—what's it's name?
- Father told her that people name mountains, so that's what he named this one; the whole family laughed.
- No one is laughing now though, as they approach their apartment—only half of it still stands after it was hit by a "rocket attack" (1.57).
- The outside stairs that lead to the third floor aren't very sturdy, but Parvana's father refuses to rely on a railing.
- Finally home, they go inside and join the family.