|
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind (Readers Circle) | 
 enlarge | Author: Suzanne Fisher Staples
Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $6.98 (100%)
New (41) Used (39) from $0.01
Rating:  224 reviews
Sales Rank: 46529
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Reading Level: Young Adult
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.2 x 1
ISBN: 0440238560
EAN: 9780440238560
ASIN: 0440238560
Publication Date: August 12, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the windswept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons, she’s been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. But when a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older sister, Shabanu is called upon to sacrifice everything she’s dreamed of. Should she do what is necessary to uphold her family’s honor—or listen to the stirrings of her own heart?
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 219 more reviews...
 They call the wind Shabanu September 17, 2004
E. R. Bird (Manhattan, NY)
23 out of 27 found this review helpful
I imagine that had I been assigned "Shabanu" in school (say, Junior High or High School) I would have loathed it intensely. Please don't misunderstand this statement. Having read this book on my own I've found it to be infinitely interesting, deep, and touching. Author Suzanne Fisher Staples has written a book that every kid should WANT to read. The problem is, if a child does not want to read it, this book must be incredibly painful to get through. At its best "Shabanu" conjures up a world that few Americans have ever witnessed firsthand. If you think you know an adolescent that could understand "Shabanu"'s understated beauty, definitely consider buying it for them. But please don't make this book required reading. Forcing people to read this tale is the perfect way to make it widely despised.
In the Cholistan Desert of Pakistan lives a family of desert dwellers. Daughters Phulan and Shabanu attend their family's camels alongside their father, mother, grandfather, aunt, and young male cousins. Life in the desert can be difficult, but Shabanu wouldn't have it any other way. She loves tending the camels alongside her father. With her older sister's impending marriage coming up, Shabanu knows that soon her little family will be torn apart. Most of the book concentrates on what it means to live in the Cholistan, often at the mercy of the duststorms and monsoons that help or hurt the region. It isn't until page 191 that the real drama of the book comes into play. When a tragedy hurts Phulan's potential husband, it's up to Shabanu to sacrifice herself for the good of the family. The question becomes, will she do it?
First of all, in spite of its Newbery Honor Award, this book probably should have received a Printz Award instead for young adult literature. Unless the kids that read through this puppy understand what rape and sex are, they're going to get a little confused with the plot. Best to recommend this book to those kids from sixth grade onwards. I was a little amazed by how gutsy author Staples was with this small novel. This isn't "Catherine Called Birdy", though at first glance the plots may seem similar. For Shabanu, her choices in life are severely limited. But Staples isn't pointing to the people who perpetuate child marriages and limited female freedoms crying, "Evil!". This is a balanced portrait of a culture entirely unlike our own, yet with significant similarities. What's so impressive is that Staples is able to give us a greater understanding of Shabanu's world. It comes to the point where you realize that Shabanu's fury at her position in life is impossible to shift from.
But as I was saying before, never ever assign this book in a classroom. Some children's books are custom made for class discussions. "Holes" by Louis Sacher, for instance. "Shabanu" is incredibly well written and thought out. But all the beauty of the text is completely reliant on the reader's willing participation. If a kid is forced to read this book they're going to be bored. They'll think the book is slow moving and not exciting in the least. This is not necessarily the case, if you stick with it. Still, I urge you to assign it only to those kids who are comfortable reading books that are filled with descriptions and long passages without dialogue. "Shabanu" is a beautiful piece of work. And there is no better way to ruin the experience of reading it than by forcing kids to do so.
Beautifully written and bittersweet... August 17, 2004
NY film buff (New York, NY)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
This sensitively-written, bittersweet coming-of-age story is set in the Cholistan desert of present day Pakistan. Shabanu, the second daughter in a family of camel-herding nomads, is forced to curb her independent spirit and adopt the traditional Muslim tenets of behavior practiced by her people, yet her family is also warm, protective, and deeply loving. At the age of twelve Shabanu is already engaged to be married to a young cousin she barely knows, but during a visit to the farmlands on the edge of the desert, where her older sister's wedding is about to be held, a violent event shatters the prospects of the whole family. Problems are resolved, but with one tragic result: Shabanu's parents must terminate the engagement to her cousin and promise her to a landowner old enough to be her father. In the end, Shabanu draws on reserves of inner strength to come to a decision about her future. The conclusion leaves the door open for a sequel (the equally moving "Haveli," written in the third person rather than the first person narration of "Shabanu"). This novel, which is now required reading in some middle school humanities classes, is educational and enjoyable, with subject matter suitable for readers 11 and up. (Some references to child marriage and sexuality may be difficult for younger readers to understand.) The characters of Shabanu's parents and other relatives are richly drawn, with an avoidance of the stereotyping often applied to Muslims and traditional Islam.
 WARNING TO PARENTS January 21, 2005
CARING MOM
10 out of 26 found this review helpful
WARNING to parents--please read this book before allowing your child to read it. If it were made into a movie, it would receive a rating of "R." There are vivid depictions of breast development (complete with a self-touching/exploration scene), camels mating, thoughts of being with a man while self-touching, a discussion of how to please a man sexually, and a father beating his daughter until she is bloody. The plot turns on an almost- rape, also vividly described. This is being recommended by major Social Studies and Literature curriculum publishers. Fortunately, I read it before my daughter was allowed to read it in her 7th grade class and found it to be inappropriate for her. I suggest you do the same.
What a fantastic Book! December 2, 1998
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
11-year old Shabanu is the youngest child in her family living in the Cholistan desert in Pakistan. She has a difficult life, and she is forced to marry as soon as she becomes a woman. Her life changes forever when she is forced to marry a 55 year old man! This book describes the lifestyle of a young girl growing up in Pakistan. The characters are well developed and the story line is full of excitement and adventure. The different culture in this book is a good thing for young people to learn about. It has happy parts and sad parts, and put together, it makes a excellent book. I think that this book is more suitable for mature readers, as a lot of people at this site gave it two stars or less. I personally think it is one of the best books I have read, and I think it well deserved the Newbery Honor. Now I'm going to read the sequel!
it is way different on the way life is now October 18, 2005
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
i think that maybe kids and maybe adults can learn about how people used to live before they had computers and before we had enough water for people to have. I realized now that there are people in the world that will come back to get people just for no reason. People don't get the choice of how they want to live and who they want to marry so that is why they are so lonely.
|
|
|
|
| |
