Parvana and her family have been forced to flee their home again and again, and now they're stuck in a tiny, one-room apartment in Kabul, Afghanistan. The city, which is almost completely ruined, is controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban have outlawed girls' education, so Parvana and her sister Nooria are not allowed to go to school. Parvana's mother has been forced out of her job at the Kabul radio station, and now the family survives on the little money that Parvana's father makes reading and writing letters for illiterate people and selling the family's few remaining possessions at the market.
However, when Parvana's father is arrested, the family is left without a source of income. In fact, they can't even go to the market for food, because they're required to be accompanied by a man when out of the house. Parvana's mother and sister, Nooria, decide to send Parvana to the market to buy naan (a type of Middle Eastern bread) and other necessities. Parvana successfully buys the naan and some other food, but as she's leaving the market, she's seen by a Talib, who shouts at her and sends her running back home. As she's running, she bumps into Mrs. Weera, who'd been a gym teacher at Parvana's school, and Mrs. Weera helps Parvana get home and ends up staying a while to help her mother.
However, when Parvana's father is arrested, the family is left without a source of income. In fact, they can't even go to the market for food, because they're required to be accompanied by a man when out of the house. Parvana's mother and sister, Nooria, decide to send Parvana to the market to buy naan (a type of Middle Eastern bread) and other necessities. Parvana successfully buys the naan and some other food, but as she's leaving the market, she's seen by a Talib, who shouts at her and sends her running back home. As she's running, she bumps into Mrs. Weera, who'd been a gym teacher at Parvana's school, and Mrs. Weera helps Parvana get home and ends up staying a while to help her mother.
After this, Parvana is unwilling to return to the market. That is, until Mrs. Weera and her mother come up with a plan: they decide to send Parvana to the market dressed as a boy. They cut her hair, and Parvana's mother takes out the clothes which had belonged to Parvana's brother Hossian, who'd been killed when Parvana was little.
The next day, dressed as a boy, Parvana makes a successful trip to the market without being discovered. After that, she takes her father's letter-writing supplies, and some things to sell. She earns enough money each day to provide for her family. A woman in a house next to where Parvana has her "shop" notices Parvana and often throws some sort of small gift down to her. Parvana suspects that the woman is abused by her husband.
One of the Window Woman's gifts to Parvana was
an embroidered cloth, like this one.
an embroidered cloth, like this one.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Weera and Parvana's mother have decided to start a magazine to spread the word about what's happening in their country. They have also started an illegal "school" for girls in the apartment.
Soon, Parvana meets a "tea boy" who she recognizes as a girl from her school named Shauzia. Parvana and Shauzia become good friends. One day, Shauzia realizes just how much money they could make selling bones from the graveyard, which have been partially unearthed by bombs. Parvana is disturbed by the idea of digging up bones, but she complies. She and Shauzia start immediately. The first day, Parvana comes home crying, but eventually she gets used to it. Once they've made enough money, the two girls buy trays to carry around and sell things like cigarettes off of. They decide not to continue digging for bones.
One day, Parvana and Shauzia see a crowd entering the soccer stadium. They join in, hoping to sell cigarettes and other items off their trays. However, they soon realize that it's not a sporting event of any kind. The Taliban have herded people into the stadium to show them what happens to thieves and criminals. Parvana and Shauzia cover their eyes during the amputations, but Parvana can't help but see one Talib holding a rope with four severed heads tied to it. It takes Parvana quite a while to recover.
One day, Parvana is shocked to discover that Nooria has decided to marry a man who lives in a city in Pakistan. (Nooria probably made this decision purely out of a desire to get out of Kabul.) Nooria, along with Parvana's mother and siblings, leave Kabul to travel to Pakistan.
While Parvana's family is away, Mrs. Weera stays with her. Parvana continues to work at the market with Shauzia, who talks of leaving Kabul - and her family. Shauzia has vague plans of going to France, where, she says, everyone is happy, and where there's lots of sunshine and flowers. One day, Parvana leaves the market too late and ends up caught in the rain in the dark, so she decides to wait it out in a ruined building. As she's waiting for the rain to stop, she hears a girl crying further into the building. Parvana approaches the girl, who doesn't have a burqa on. Parvana ends up bringing the girl home with her, where Mrs. Weera cares for the girl. Mrs. Weera and Parvana discover that the girl's name is Homa. Homa tells them that she's from Pakistan, and that the Taliban had just taken control of her city. The Taliban killed Homa's entire family, along with almost everyone else in the area. Homa escaped by jumping onto the back of a truck, which carried her to Kabul. It turns out that Homa's city is the same city that Parvana's family traveled to. Parvana fears that her mother and siblings have been killed. She hopes that they managed to escape from the city and are living in a refugee camp in a separate part of Pakistan.
One evening, Parvana's father turns up at the doorstep. He's been released from prison. He's in rough shape, as he's been beaten and underfed. It turns out that when he was released, it wasn't until two kind young men stopped to help him that he was able to make it much farther than a few meters away from the prison. Mrs. Weera nurses him back to health, and eventually he's able to talk. He says he doesn't know why they released him, because he doesn't know why he was arrested in the first place. Once he's well enough, he gets to know Homa. They are both educated and speak English fluently. Through all this, Parvana continues to make her daily trips to the market to buy and sell.
As soon as Parvana's father is able, he and Parvana leave for Pakistan to try and find their family.