In the summer of 2021 in Afghanistan, a desperate girl flees her home to avoid a forced marriage. She is found by a police officer named Shauzia, who takes her to Green valley, a shelter and school for women and girls. The school is run by a young woman named Parvana, who knows well what it is like to be desperate, alone and unsafe on the streets. It has been twenty Parvana and Shauzia had to disguise themselves as boys to work and support themselves as boys to work and support themselves and their families. And when the Taliban were defeated in 2001, it looked as though Afghans could finally rebuild their country. Many things have changed for Parvana since then. She has married Asif, the boy she first met in the desert as she searched for her family. They have a son named Rafi, who is about to go to New York to work toward his dream of being a professional ballet dancer. But when the Taliban retake control of Arghanistan, all of Parvana's gains—for her country, her school and her familty—are at risk. While Asif takes Rafi and Parvana's sister Maryam to get on one of the last flights out of Kabul, the Taliban come to Green Valley, and Parvana must once again make some very hard decisions.