I am listing this book as Young Adult because some of the scenes are confronting. I am sure many of you remember the horrific scenes of desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan in 2021. People standing in sewage trying to hold on to babies, young children and small bundles of possessions. All clutching precious passports and other papers in the hope of being able to catch a plane to freedom.
One More Mountain opens with Damsa. She has fled an arranged marriage. She is rescued by a young police woman who is also on the run. The Taliban are now in power and they are hunting women in uniform. Shauzia knows a safe place. Parvana is sheltering women, young children, her son, sister and husband. Damsa is given shelter, food, safety and the promise of a new life. But then the Taliban come knocking and they must flee.
Meanwhile Rafi, Parvana's son has gone to the airport with Parvana's sister Maryam. They plan to travel to America where Maryam hopes to become a famous singer and Rafi dreams of a career in ballet. They don't know that this is the day the airport will close and later bombs will fall. Asif, Rafi's father travels with Rafi and Maryam to the airport. He only has one leg and the journey becomes especially dreadful when they are forced to abandon their car and continue on foot. Close to the gates Asif says his goodbyes and heads away to return to Parvana but at that moment the bombs falls and he is killed.
Blurb: In Kabul, 15-year-old Damsa runs away to avoid being forced into marriage by her family. She is found by a police officer named Shauzia, who takes her to Green Valley, a shelter and school for women and girls run by Parvana. It has been 20 years since Parvana and Shauzia had to disguise themselves as boys to support themselves and their families. But when the Taliban were defeated in 2001, it looked as if Afghans could finally rebuild their country. Many things have changed for Parvana since then. She has married Asif, who she met in the desert as she searched for her family when she was a child. She runs a school for girls. She has a son, Rafi, who is about to fly to New York, where he will train to become a dancer. But Shauzia is still Parvana's best friend. And Parvana is still headstrong, bringing her in conflict with her spoiled sister Maryam. While Asif tries to get Maryam and Rafi on one of the last flights out of Kabul, the Taliban come to the school, and Parvana must lead the girls out of Green Valley and into the mountains.
One More Mountain will be published in November, 2022. I almost read this book in one sitting but several times I had to walk away to recover from the harrowing scenes. Please don't let that stop you reading this book. Yes it is harrowing but this is also an important account of recent history and the honesty of this story telling is wonderful and while the ending is not a fairy tale Deborah Ellis does leave her reader with some hope for the future.
I loved reading that 100% of the author royalties will be donated to aid organisations who support people in Afghanistan.
Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this book:
"The only other way to get there was to wade through the little river of raw sewage that flowed through the gully. ... It was cold and disgusting and came up to his belly. ... Within minutes, the area in front of the gate was alive with surging bodies as people tried to get closer to the gate and were pushed back by those who were ahead of them ... the stench rose with the heat. Rafi watched a man faint and slip down into the foul water."
"Parvana had lost homes, family and love, but at least she had once had those things. She still had more than most. She appreciated it all every day, knowing that at any moment, it could be snatched from her. They were all, always, seconds away from a bomb, from prison, from death."
While this book does stand alone I do think your reading will be richer if you can read the earlier books from this series. You can read about Parvana here.
You might also look for the graphic novel of Parvana (The Breadwinner).
And I suggest this book as a companion read:
