Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind
Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind book cover

Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind

Mass Market Paperback – August 13, 1991

by
Price
$9.81
Publisher
Laurel Leaf
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0679810308
Dimensions
5.25 x 0.75 x 6.75 inches
Weight
4.8 ounces

Description

From Publishers Weekly PW called this Newbery Honor book about a Pakistani girl a "thorny, poignant coming-of-age" novel. "Staples's depiction of desert life is breathtaking. She employs vivid, lyrical metaphors to create the potency of the family's joys and struggles." Ages 12-up. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From the Inside Flap "This first novel is, on several counts, one of the most exciting YA books to appear recently. Staples is so steeped in her story and its Pakistani setting that the use of a first-person voice for a desert child rings authentic--the voice is clear, consistent, and convincing. Shabanu and her sister are to marry brothers as soon as they all come of age. But she will eventually lose her betrothed and be promised to a wealthy landowner to settle a feud. The richness and tragedy of a whole culture are reflected in the fate of this girl's family. Through an involving plot Staples has given readers insight into lives totally different from their own, but into emotions resoundingly familiar."--(starred) Bulletin, Center for Children's Books. Suzanne grew up in Pennsylvania, and was a liberal arts major in college.xa0xa0After graduation, she had various jobs, all having something to do with writing and research.xa0xa0Eventually, she landed in Hong Kong, where she became a reporter for United Press International.xa0xa0For six years, Suzanne lived and worked in China, and in 1979, UPI offered Suzanne her own bureau in South Asia.xa0xa0Several extraordinary events happened during her tenure there, including the taking of American hostages in Iran, and the Civil War in Afghanistan.xa0xa0Suzanne also traveled extensively with Indira Gandhi during this time.xa0xa0In 1985, Suzanne went to Pakistan to conduct a study on poor rural woman. It was during this time that she was inspired to write her first children's book, Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind .xa0xa0A sequel to Shabanu , Haveli , soon followed.Currently, Suzanne Fisher Staples lives with her husband, Wayne Harley, in Mount Dora, Florida, where she continues to write. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • "This first novel is, on several counts, one of the most exciting YA books to appear recently. Staples is so steeped in her story and its Pakistani setting that the use of a first-person voice for a desert child rings authentic--the voice is clear, consistent, and convincing. Shabanu and her sister are to marry brothers as soon as they all come of age. But she will eventually lose her betrothed and be promised to a wealthy landowner to settle a feud. The richness and tragedy of a whole culture are reflected in the fate of this girl's family. Through an involving plot Staples has given readers insight into lives totally different from their own, but into emotions resoundingly familiar."--(starred)
  • Bulletin, Center for Children's Books.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(72)
★★★★
25%
(60)
★★★
15%
(36)
★★
7%
(17)
★
23%
(54)

Most Helpful Reviews

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WARNING TO PARENTS

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.
17 people found this helpful
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Don't use this book in your classroom!

What upset me most about this over-generalized sterotypical book was that it is used in classrooms. What are our youth going to think about Pakistani culture? Are they going to think that Shabanu's experience is the norm? Probably, yes! They have no other point of reference. We don't need more books that generalize cultures, especially those that are already misunderstood. Please don't use this book as a teaching tool!
15 people found this helpful
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Not worth the Match I burned it with

I had to read this book in English in eighth grade. I am an avid reader, and this is without a doubt the worst book I have ever come across. The character development is disgustingly bad, the events chosen to attempt character description are horrible (imagine pages and pages of the main character checking out her sister and watching camels mate) and the action is poorly described (I was actually bored at the killing scene). The entire book talks about Shabanu's "independent spirit" and "determination" but when the chips are down she sits down and cries until her father finds her, beats her and drags her home. This book tries to fool you with being an "eyeopening book about another culture that will broaden your horizons". Unfortunately the public education system fell for that line, I hope you are smart enough not to. You want a book that will actually correctly show you life from a point of view of hardship? Read the Diary of Anne Frank. The only redeeming value Shabanu had was to convince me that if this trash can get published, so could anything I write.
9 people found this helpful
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Inaproppriate For Middle Schoolers

I think this book is inaproppriate for middle schoolers. It deals with violent men and shows bad stereotypes about Muslims. This book makes it look like all Muslims live in the desert, wear chadr's, and live in mud huts with tobas. This is certainly not true. I personally know a woman from Pakistan, and she said that these ideas expressed in the book are from a long time ago, it's not from a recent era.
8 people found this helpful
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This book is about as bad as it gets.

I had to read this book for eighth grade, and found myself struggling to read it. It's not that the plot moved too slow, its just that there was no plot to speak of. I think I speak for my entire grade when I say no one liked it. It's more and more of the same useless words. Teachers: Teach more meaningful books, ie Dickens, Tolkein, Chaucer, etc., not Shabanu.
7 people found this helpful
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An utter embarrasment.

This is a very sad excuse for a book. Everything in it was incorrect. First of all, Islam does not tolerate violence; that is completely false. Islam also does not tolerate opressing females; it was never said that they were supposed to obey males without question. The issue concerning a marriage between 2 people without seeing each other was never done, it is required for them to meet, and for BOTH to agree on the marriage.
Dowries are not allowed in Islam because there is no need for families to pay for giving away their daughters, as if they were rubbish they otherwise couldn't get rid of. I'm deeply revolted at the story line and how Ms. Staples portrays Islam and Muslims. The sequel, Haveli, is also an object of lies, as it surrounds the same situation that Shabanu did. The cultural backround may be right, but the religious backround is far from it. I do not agree with anything, because I know what the truth is; I am a Pakistani Muslim, too.
As far as the basic elements of a book are concerned, this book was successful, save for the fact that the author continually mentions a persons breasts as a part of their descriptions. For these reasons, I gave it 3 stars. Do not read this book, unless you prefer loss, hardship, and tragedy. The only reason I managed to get through was that I didn't want a failing grade in English class.
5 people found this helpful
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Suzanne Fisher Staples can't write a decent phrase.

From the start, this book was horrendously unrealistic. The author writes in the present tense, mixing Pakistani vocabulary with English, creating a confusing arrangement without tense or setting. "It was all the water we could get from the toba, the basin that is our main water supply." The book is full of such sentences. It is completely unclear as to who the author is speaking to, and who the main character Shabanu is speaking to. Altogether very confusing.
This book has literally no plot and terrible writing. The author cannot decide who her audience is. The reading level is for fourth grade girls, yet the content is for adults. I read this book to learn more about Pakistani culture. The extent to which I learned was random information about camels, about as useful as knowing that the plastic tip of a shoelace is called an aglet.
Suzanne Fisher Staples needs to think before she writes.
5 people found this helpful
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Spirtually inspiring

...I read this book a little over a year ago and i fell in love with it. I have read it to pieces and have bought 3 new compies in the past year. This book happens to be very adventurous and awe inspiring. Its about a musilm girl, Shabanu, who is 11 at the beginning of her story. She and her sister Phulan , 13, live in the Cholistian Desert along th Border of Pacistan with the mother, father, , grandfather, aunt, and younger cousins as camel "farmers". They live in anyplace in the desert that happend to have water untill the monsoons come. Shabanu is interested in everything except "ladies" work. She and her sister are betrothed to thier cousins Murad and Hamir. But when her Mother tries to teach Shabanu womens work, Shabanu's sister catches on but Shabanu has more fun playing with the camels and running around in the beautiful desert sand. When a something tragic happens between her family and her landowner, her family is put with a desicion that will change evrything in everyones life. Shabanu, daughter of the wind, is one of the best books i've ever read .... I feel at least evryone who loves an uplifting, tear jerker will love this book and its sequal, Havali. Suzanne Fisher Stapeles happens to be a wonderful author. i love her other book Shiva's fire. All her stories and books are very uplifing and make you feel godd when you read them. YOU REALLY SHOULD READ THIS!!! thank you.
5 people found this helpful
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One good book

This is one of those great books that is foolishly prejudged as 'Children's' or 'Young Adult'. This book revolves around an eleven year old Pakistani gypsy who lives in the harsh Cholistan desert, and the struggling life she and her family are bound to. Shabanu, her name meaning, Daughter of the Wind, is just like any normal girl. She dreams of marraige, like to play with animals, and likes to have fun. This book is rich, vivid, with characters and places that are like a dream-world. When Ms. Staples wrote this book, she wrote her dreams and revelations, I'm sure. This book is about a young girl, but I think adult readers might actually get more out of the book than children. Most 9yr olds aren't going to understand the sex-inequality issues in the Near East or the struggles between the Cholistani sub-race and the larger Arab-Pakistanti majority. Bottom line, this was a good book, and I hope Ms. Staples writes a third book in this series.
5 people found this helpful
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Vivid Picture of Indian Culture

Sabanu: Daughter of the Wind tells the story of a strong-willed 11 year old girl raised in a close-knit family of nomadic camel herders from the Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. Brought up in a society where women's lives are strictly ruled by men, religion, and cultural traditions, Sabanu has been given many freedoms that are forbidden to most Muslim girls. She and her family experience joy and pain throughout the story as the reader learns wonderful information about life in the Pakistani desert, various customs of the Muslim people, and the role of women in Indian culture. The author uses authentic language to create powerful visual images which allow the reader to share the family's happiness in planning an upcoming wedding, and their deep sorrow at the death of a dearly beloved family member. The story is so engrossing that one can feel Sabanu's uncertainty about the future, and understand the struggle she faces when making a difficult decision in the final chapters of the book.
I enjoyed this story because of the vivid picture it paints of Indian culture. I admired Sabanu for her determination to be free while longing to remain loyal to her family and her heritage. I would recommend using this book with students in high school to increase their knowledge of the world, and to promote an appreciation of Indian culture.
4 people found this helpful

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