News & Reviews

WORD: Penguin Group builds a school for children in war-torn Afghanistan
Edited Press Release

Thanksgiving officially kicks off the holiday season in the USA and we were pleased to find that book publisher Penguin’s American division is embracing the season of giving on a global scale. Penguin Group (USA) announced that it has built a primary school in Afghanistan, in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United States Association for UNHCR.

The school is located in Arababshirali, roughly 150 miles from Kabul, in Kunduz Province. The school, which recently opened its doors to 270 students, grades one through six, is a tribute to American booksellers, librarians, and educators who supported Khaled Hosseini's #1 New York Times-bestselling and internationally acclaimed novels, "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns," published by Riverhead Books.

In 2006, Khaled Hosseini was honored by the UN Refugee Agency and named a U.S. envoy to the UNHCR. In this role, he traveled to war-torn villages in the northern region of his native Afghanistan in 2007. During this trip he witnessed firsthand the overwhelming desire of Afghan people to provide an education and a better future for their children. Now, in 2008, Penguin Group (USA) is proud to play a key role in turning that desire into a reality.

"Changing the world can sometimes start with a single act of kindness. Our hope is that this new school is one of those acts," said Susan Petersen Kennedy, President of Penguin Group (USA), in a press release.

"We know that the children it serves will contribute to their world and ours, and we wanted to help provide a place where they can learn, grow, and dream. For us, education matters, books matter, and these children matter."

Penguin Group (USA) is the U.S. affiliate of the internationally renowned Penguin Group, one of the largest English-language trade book publishers in the world. Formed in 1996 as a result of the merger between Penguin Books USA and The Putnam Berkley Group, Penguin Group (USA) is a leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publisher. More information about Penguin Group is available at their website.

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