Locked away by American military soldiers in Afghanistan, Parvana refuses to talk to her captors. Her silence only baffles and angers those in charge, leading them to question the innocence of this young silent rebel, snatched from the ruins of a bombed-out school. Their only clue is her diary and a series of names in it that they hope will help them figure out what happened.

Through Parvana's story, you will see how lives are shattered and scattered like shrapnel in a country devastated by war. You will encounter people waging their own crushing battles: a single mother striving against vicious tradition to run a school for girls, young girls who deal with their grimy realities while they dream of free skies, and students struggling to get an education that will give them wings.

Most of all, you will meet, and never forget, a feisty, determined girl who believes that even in the darkest hours of death and destruction, hope shines like the desert sun.
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