afghanistan

"Afghanistan is a country in South Asia known for its beautiful landscape. Friends from Sesame Street introduce readers to the country, from its tall mountains to its plentiful food markets"--.

"Simple text and full-color photographs illustrate the land, animals, and people of Afghanistan"--Provided by publisher.

Kabul, 1978: The daughter of a prominent family, Sitara Zamani lives a privileged life in Afghanistan's thriving cosmopolitan capital. The 1970s are a time of remarkable promise under the leadership of people like Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan's progressive president, and Sitara's beloved father, his right-hand man. But the ten-year-old Sitara's world is shattered when communists stage a coup, assassinating the president and Sitara's entire family. Only she survives. Smuggled out of the palace by a guard named Shair, Sitara finds her way to the home of a female American diplomat, who adopts her and raises her in America. In her new country, Sitara takes on a new name-Aryana Shepherd-and throws herself into her studies, eventually becoming a renowned surgeon. A survivor, Aryana has refused to look back, choosing instead to bury the trauma and devastating loss she endured. New York, 2008: Forty years after that fatal night in Kabul, Aryana's world is rocked again when an elderly patient appears in her examination room-a man she never expected to see again. It is Shair, the soldier who saved her, yet may have murdered her entire family. Seeing him awakens Aryana's fury and desire for answers-and, perhaps, revenge. Realizing that she cannot go on without finding the truth, Aryana embarks on a quest that takes her back to Kabul-a battleground between the corrupt government and the fundamentalist Taliban-and through shadowy memories of the world she loved and lost"--Provided by publisher.

"In the days before Homeira Qaderi gave birth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be barricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions. With the city and the military on edge, it was not uncommon for an armed soldier to point his gun at the pregnant woman's bulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Frightened and in pain, she was once forced to make her way on foot. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born child, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors. But the joy of her beautiful son's birth was soon overshadowed by other dangers that would threaten her life. No ordinary Afghan woman, Homeira refused to cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law, she risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for women's rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society"--OCLC.

"A young Afghani amputee matter-of-factly removes her own barrier to education, building a bench from discarded wood so that she and her 'helper-leg' can sit through school in comfort"--Provided by publisher.

A young girl named A. Saira, who is living with her family in Afghanistan, finds her life forever changed when a cruel man who follows the Taliban enters her life, but finds comfort in a host family from Valencia and must face her past when she starts to fall in love.

Amir, haunted by his betrayal of Hassan, the son of his father's servant and a childhood friend, returns to Kabul as an adult after he learns Hassan has been killed, in an attempt to redeem himself by rescuing Hassan's son from a life of slavery to a Taliban official.

A graphic novel adaptation of Deborah Ellis' "The Breadwinner" in which to earn money so that her family can survive after her father's arrest, eleven-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy because of strict limitations imposed by the Taliban rulers of Kabul, Afghanistan, on women's freedom and behavior.

"In this dual-narrative tale, a teenage American army private and an Afghan boy living under the horrors of the Taliban, caught on separate sides of the world during the tumultuous times leading up to and following 9/11, come to discover how much more they have in common than they ever could have imagined"--Provided by the publisher.

Describes Afghanistan's geography, wildlife, history, government, economy, people, religion, and culture.