Winner of the Middle East Book Award and the Northern Lights Book Award Finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Florida Literacy Association Children’s Book Award, the OLA Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award South Asian Book Awards Highly Commended Books pick RISE: A Feminist Project selection
Starred School Library Journal review
Well reviewed by The New York Times, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, The Horn Book Guide, and Shelf Awareness There is high interest in stories about Afghanistan due to current events Fictionalized story with historical grounding in the childhoods of the author and his mother in Afghanistan that is explained in an author’s note Bahram Rahman’s mother was the first girl in her village to get an education; she became a teacher. When the Taliban first took over in 1996, Bahram vividly remembers the day his mother had to hide her teacher’s uniform, and the day his three sisters had to burn their books when the family was turned out of their home. Bahram threw away his own books too, not understanding that he would have been allowed to keep them.

OwnVoices story Curriculum links for social studies A compelling day-in-the-life snapshot of a lifestyle unfamiliar to most North American readers Celebration of literacy and the power of education Award-winning illustrator of Stolen Words and Nutcracker Night Classroom guide for educators available for download Open Book interview with Bahram Rahman available