Mud City

Mud City (2003) is a young adult novel by Canadian author and activist Deborah Ellis. It is the third book in the acclaimed Breadwinner series, which portrays the lives of children affected by conflict in Afghanistan. The novel follows Shauzia, a teenage refugee who escapes a Pakistani refugee camp to pursue her dream of reaching France, only to face the harsh realities of street life in Peshawar.

A recipient of the Order of Canada and numerous literary awards, Ellis is known for her social justice-oriented fiction for young readers. She has donated millions in royalties from this series to support education in Afghanistan. Set in the wake of the September 11 attacks and the subsequent US invasion, Mud City has received many accolades, including the Hackmatack Award and the Lamplighter Award. The novel examines themes such as The Illusory Nature of Complete Independence, The Search for Home in a State of Displacement, and The Erosion of Dignity Amid Poverty and Conflict.

This guide refers to the 2015 Groundwood Books paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide contain depictions of disordered eating, gender discrimination, graphic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, illness, death, and animal cruelty.

Plot Summary

Shauzia, a 14-year-old Afghan refugee, lives with her dog, Jasper, in the Widows’ Compound of a refugee camp in Pakistan. She feels stifled by the authority of the compound’s leader, Mrs. Weera, and dreams of escaping to a lavender field in France, a vision she keeps alive with a treasured magazine photograph. Shauzia clashes with Mrs. Weera, demanding payment for her work and rejecting a spot in a nursing program. Mrs. Weera gives her an ultimatum: stay and contribute without complaint or leave and fend for herself. After a farewell party she perceives as manipulative, Shauzia leaves the compound. That night, she cuts her hair short to disguise herself as a boy, a necessary measure for a lone girl traveling in Pakistan. She gathers a few supplies and sneaks out of the camp with Jasper, determined to reach the sea and, eventually, France.

Upon arriving in the nearby city of Peshawar, Shauzia and Jasper are overwhelmed by the chaotic traffic and noise. Shauzia tries to find work but is repeatedly rejected. An encounter with a university-educated Afghan woman who has been reduced to begging frightens Shauzia about her own prospects. After a day of failure, she and Jasper spend their first night sleeping in a market alcove.

The next day, Shauzia gets a half-day job cleaning a butcher’s shop, but after her old sandals fall apart, she is forced to spend all her earnings on mismatched replacements. She continues to survive by taking a series of short-term jobs, such as unloading cloth, delivering tea, and carrying luggage at the train station. To maintain her disguise and stay cool, she has her head shaved by a street barber. One night, a group of men try to assault her and Jasper in their sleeping spot, forcing Shauzia to flee and remain constantly on the move.

Shauzia eventually falls in with a group of Afghan street children who survive by scavenging for trash and recyclables. The group includes their tough leader, Zahir, and a young girl named Looli. Shauzia joins them in picking through garbage dumps and raiding hotel trash bins for leftover food. Though she clashes with Zahir, she finds a degree of safety and camaraderie with the group. When work is scarce, Shauzia resorts to begging outside a fancy grocery store, where she feels deeply humiliated. There, she meets a kind American couple, Tom and Barbara, and their two young sons, who give her money and are charmed by Jasper. She saves her earnings in a hidden pouch around her neck, spending just enough to keep her and Jasper fed each day.

One day, a man gives Shauzia 100 rupees and offers her a job, but he is really trying to abduct her. When she resists, he falsely accuses her of stealing the money, and she is arrested. At the police station, the officers confiscate her pocket money and her savings pouch and throw her into a crowded cell with other Afghan boys. She faces bullying and the terrifying prospect of being exposed as a girl during the daily communal showers.

Meanwhile, Jasper sees the American family at Chief Burger and frantically barks at them, alerting them to Shauzia’s disappearance. After asking around, Tom realizes she’s been arrested. He finds her at the police station, and Shauzia whispers to him that she’s really a girl. He bribes the guards for her release and takes Shauzia to his family’s comfortable home in a wealthy neighborhood. Barbara welcomes Shauzia, happy that she is a girl. Shauzia showers, gets clean clothes, plentiful food, and a soft bed. Jasper gets a bath and much love from the family. Shauzia rests and recovers but struggles to adapt to the affluence. She wants the family to think of her as one of their children but offers to be their cleaning lady, which Barbara refuses. When the family goes to sleep, Shauzia digs through the garbage and hoards food in her room out of an ingrained fear of starvation.

Feeling secure, Shauzia attempts to replicate what she sees as the family’s generosity. When they go to the American Club and leave her at home one day, she invites beggars and street children into the house, giving away food, toys, and clothing, despite Barbara’s warning not to let anyone in. Barbara returns to find the house in chaos and is horrified. The situation worsens when the family discovers Shauzia’s stash of rotting, ant-infested food in her bedroom. Realizing they cannot manage her, the couple decides to return her to the refugee camp. Tom drives a silent Shauzia back to the Widows’ Compound, leaving her at the entrance.

Back in the camp, Shauzia is welcomed by the children but finds the atmosphere oppressive. Mrs. Weera, expecting her to leave again, refrains from giving her jobs. Initially listless, Shauzia is provoked by Mrs. Weera’s taunts about her boredom and begins organizing activities and lessons for the younger children. She befriends Farzana, another young orphan whose aunt has died. The camp soon faces a severe food shortage when flour rations are withheld. Impatient with Mrs. Weera’s calls for patience, Shauzia leads a group of children in a raid on the camp’s warehouse. The plan goes awry, escalating into a full-scale riot, as hungry adults swarm the building, spilling much of the flour. In the chaos, a man attacks Shauzia, steals her bag of flour, and she is trampled, suffering a broken leg and ribs before Mrs. Weera finds her.

Shauzia awakens in the camp’s under-resourced clinic. Her resolve to escape is strengthened by the overwhelming despair of the clinic, and she is particularly traumatized by the death of a 16-year-old girl in the next bed, the victim of an acid attack for teaching a man’s daughter to read. Once she receives crutches, Shauzia escapes the clinic but becomes lost in the camp’s maze-like streets. She wanders into a desperate settlement for new arrivals before an aid worker finds her and drives her back to the compound. The aid worker tells her about the recent attacks on New York City and the impending American bombing of Afghanistan. The day after her return, the Widows’ Compound is attacked by a group of men, but Mrs. Weera and the other women successfully fight them off. Shauzia spends the next several weeks recovering.

Once her cast is removed, Shauzia learns that Mrs. Weera is preparing to lead a group of nurses on a dangerous mission back into Afghanistan to aid civilians affected by the bombing. They face added danger because a man is not traveling with them to the Taliban-led country. Shauzia feels torn between her long-held dream of France and the urgent reality before her. After a conversation with Farzana, Shauzia makes a decision. She gives Farzana the precious photo of the lavender field and entrusts Jasper to her care. Postponing her personal dream, Shauzia assumes her male identity, Shafiq, and leaves the compound to catch up with Mrs. Weera’s group, ready to join their mission.