Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples

Interested in the mating rituals of camels? Not really? No worries – you’ll probably still enjoy this book. Suzanne Fisher Staples’ Newbery Honor book Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind packs a punch as a captivating narrative of a young girl’s life in 20^th-Century Pakistan.

          11-year-old Shabanu and her family are desert people, nomadic and well accustomed to dealing with sandstorms, dry wells, and the occasional hostile tribe. Yet any inconveniences that come with travelling the desert land are more than made up for in Shabanu’s eyes by the freedom of their life and her love of caring for her father’s camel herd. She knows, however, that her current happiness will not be permanent. Her older sister Phulan is months away from being married, which means that Shabanu’s own wedding will follow a year later. While Shabanu speculates hopefully about her future bridegroom, a boy she barely knows, disaster rips her world to shreds. A greedy and licentious landlord’s vendetta against her family forces her betrothal to the landlord’s wealthy brother, a man twice her age who already has four wives. Desperate, Shabanu must decide between two evils: whether to lock her heart away and obey, or to rebel against her father’s decree and endanger her family.

          Reader, beware: this is not an uplifting story about a girl who finds an unconventional answer that allows her to embrace her culture while retaining her freedom. It is still, however, a worthwhile story particularly due to the fact that it does not fit this plot trajectory. Shabanu’s coming-of-age narrative is a poignant illustration of the ability to love those who hurt you, the power of sacrifice, the necessity of compassion, and ultimately the gift of inner freedom. The heroine’s fate is not the ideal destiny wished by the sympathetic reader, but is still triumphant due to the understanding of personal dignity that she achieves through great struggle.