Mud City
Grade 5-7-Stuck in the Widows' Compound of an Afghan refugee camp just across the border in Pakistan, Shauzia chafes at the endless small jobs Mrs. Weera assigns to her. She longs to take charge of her life, travel with her faithful dog Jasper, and make her way to the sea and ultimately to France. She leaves the camp dressed as a boy to try to earn money in Peshawar but there is little work and the meager amount she does earn is stolen by the police. Befriended by a Western family, she misunderstands their ways and is returned to the camp. There, her leg is broken in a riot caused by her efforts to get food for the widows and children. As she comes to recognize her own strengths, she reaches a point where she can lay aside her dream long enough to return to Afghanistan with Mrs. Weera to help her countrymen. Like The Breadwinner (2001) and Parvana's Journey (2002, both Groundwood), this novel conveys a distinctive sense of place, describing in discomfiting detail the sights and sounds of the impoverished refugee camp and the poorest sections of Peshawar. However, the book has the feel of a story begun in the middle. Shauzia's friend Parvana is just a name. Readers know nothing of their previous connection and Shauzia's own history is sketchy. She is smart and likable in her generosity, but her change of heart is sudden and comes as a surprise. Buy where the earlier titles have been popular.Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DCCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.