The year is 2001, and there is a war in Afghanistan where the Taliban is trying to rule with an iron fist. It is hard on the people who live there because their lives have been altered as we know it. It is especially hard on the women because there is nothing they can do to protect their families from the chaos that will ensue. However, there was a different fate in store for Parvana despite these strict regimes.
Parvana's father was the main protector of his family, but now that he was imprisoned there is nobody that will protect them. So, even though Parvana was scared for her life, she cut off her much-cherished long hair even though it hurt her heart because that was a part of her identity that she loved about herself as a young girl. However, she knew the direness of the situation that they were in and she proceeded to defy tradition by dressing as a little boy to support her family in this time of crises.
Her new identity began as Artesh, where she went around town and sold valuable items from her home. And, even though these items were something her family held dear, they knew they had to part ways with these items to be able to survive the war. Later on, she meets a little girl in the same situation as her named Shauzia. This was the start of a beautiful friendship that developed into a close bond between two kindred spirits who once felt alone in their duties.
To further help the family, Parvana's mother tries to arrange a marriage for her older sister Soraya, Even though this was not something that they wanted, this goes to show that not only Parvana knew that something needed to be done to help them survive. The women in this household were truly something else.
Parvana knew that there was a time limit, so she went to find her father. She did this by enlisting the help of Shauzia so they could take on hard labor jobs to save up money for Paravana to bribe a security guard to go and see her father in prison.
From there on out, she and her father leave Afghanistan in search of her mother and sister by looking in refugee camps. However, life gets more challenging as we know it as the Taliban takes over the area that they are traveling to. So, their chances of survival have decreased.
Even though Parvana's life has changed completely, she took life into her own hands and defied what she was told to believe as her role with being a woman. So, she decided to become the breadwinner of her family. And this proves that anyone can be the breadwinner no matter what was instilled into their heads about what they should believe.