In this sequel to "The Breadwinner," the Taliban still control Afghanistan, but Kabul is in ruins. Twelve-year-old Parvana's father has just died, and Parvana sets out alone to find her family, masquerading as a boy.

Because the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan impose strict limitations on women's freedom and behavior, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy so that her family can survive after her father's arrest.

Three stories detail the lives of Parvana, who dresses as a boy in order to provide for her family, and Shauzia, who lives in a widow's compound and dreams of moving to France.

This is the sequel to Breadwinner.

On a military base in post-Taliban Afghanistan, American authorities have just imprisoned a teenaged girl found in a bombed-out school. The army major thinks she may be a terrorist working with the Taliban. The girl does not respond to questions in any language and remains silent, even when she is threatened, harassed and mistreated over several days. The only clue to her identity is a tattered shoulder bag containing papers that refer to people named Shauzia, Nooria, Leila, Asif, Hassan - and Parvana.In this long-awaited sequel to The Breadwinner Trilogy, Parvana is now fifteen years old. As she waits for foreign military forces to determine her fate, she remembers the past four years of her life. Reunited with her mother and sisters, she has been living in a village where her mother has finally managed to open a school for girls. But even though the Taliban has been driven from the government, the country is still at war, and many continue to view the education and freedom of girls and women with suspicion and fear.As her family settles into the routine of running the school, Parvana, a bit to her surprise, finds herself restless and bored. She even thinks of running away. But when local men threaten the school and her family, she must draw on every ounce of bravery and resilience she possesses to survive the disaster that kills her mother, destroys the school, and puts her own life in jeopardy.

The award-winning author of The Lie Tree “has created a distinctly imaginative world full of engaging characters, robust humor, and true suspense” (School Library Journal, starred review). Everybody knew that books were dangerous. Read the wrong book, it was said, and the words crawled around your brain on black legs and drove you mad, wicked mad. Mosca Mye’s father insisted on teaching her to read—even in a world where books are dangerous, regulated things. Eight years later, Quillam Mye died, leaving behind an orphaned daughter with an inauspicious name and an all-consuming hunger for words. Trapped for years in the care of her cruel uncle and aunt, Mosca leaps at the opportunity for escape, though it comes in the form of sneaky swindler Eponymous Clent. As she travels the land with Clent and her pet goose, Mosca begins to discover complicated truths about the world she inhabits and the power of words. “Intricate plotting, well-developed and fascinating characters, delicious humor, and exquisite wordcraft envelop readers fully into this richly imagined world.” ?The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review) “Hardinge’s stylish way with prose gives her sprawling debut fantasy a literate yet often silly tone that calls to mind Monty Python.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Mosca’s ferocity and authentic inner turmoil [are] both reminiscent of Philip Pullman’s Lyra Belacqua.” ?Booklist “Incredibly well written.” ?The Seattle Times

What if the only thing you had left were the stories in your head? Amina’s homeland has been ravaged by war, and her family is devastated . . . The women of the family – Amina, her two sisters and their mother – have no choice but to leave their home town, along with thousands of others, and head for a refugee camp. But there are even more challenges ahead . . .