Independent Reading Suggested Books for The Breadwinner
See our Independent Reading for Elementary Students Teacher Tool for guidance on how to use the suggested texts below.
Additional Texts by the Author
- Mud City by Deborah Ellis (740L)
- My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis (670L)
- Parvana’s Journey by Deborah Ellis (700L)
Informational Texts to Build Content Knowledge
- Every Human Has Rights: A Photographic Declaration for Kids by Mary Robinson (880L)
- I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali **
- Kids of Kabul by Deborah Ellis (800L)
- Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood by Ibtisam Barakat (870L) **
- Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis (790L)
- Understanding Afghanistan Today by Don Nardo
- Who is Malala Yousafzai by Dinah Brown (680L) *
Texts with Connecting Topics and Themes
Escaping war/human rights violations
- Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan (800L) **
- Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai (880L) **
- I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin (770L) **
- Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai (800L)
- The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon (840L)
- The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz (830L) **
- The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney (620L)
Fighting for human rights
- 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shihab Nye (910L)
- A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird (830L)
- Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed (600L) **
- The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis (710L)
* lower Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
** higher Lexile or qualitative measures than core text.
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