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Summary: Get to know another culture...
Review: Shabanu is an 11-year-old girl who lives with her family: her sister, mother, father, aunt and cousins. The story begins with the planning of her sister's wedding, but takes many unexpected turns. Shabanu is meant to marry Murad and her sister, Phulan, is supposed to marry his brother, Hamir. The entire family is preparing for Phulan's wedding when tragedy strikes. Shabanu's world is turned upside down when Phulan's soon to be husband gets killed in a feud. Phulan, being the oldest, then marries Murad. Thus, leaving Shabanu no longer promised to anyone. Soon an older wealthy landowner asks for Shabanu's hand in marriage... This is a good story to read in this day and age. We should always strive to learn more about other cultures, and Suzanne Fisher Staples has done a wonderful job of trying to do this for us. She goes into deep details of the land, culture, rituals, and overall climate of the Pakistan civilization. You can almost feel the turmoil that is Shabanu and her family is going through. You want to laugh, cry, fight, and love all at the same time. I think that this sort of book causes us to look deeper into the Pakistan culture. This sort of novel forces us to understand that these are people, just like us. They go through the same emotions that we go through and have very similar personalities. They are trying to make it through their life and country just like we are. Will Shabanu honor her family, heritage, and duty, or will she follow her heart and flee? You must read the book to find out...
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Summary: Vivid Picture of Indian Culture
Review: 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.
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Summary: "Kid Lit" a good read at any age
Review: Some of the best books I have read in recent years, have been considered "Kid Lit" and Suzanne Fisher Staples' books about Shabanu rank near the top of the list. The characters are well drawn; the plot well defined; the glossery helpful and informative; the conclusion plausable. In fact, I was so pleased with "Daughter of the Wind" and "Havali," I was looking for a third book which may fit between the first and second! Apart from the engaging story, what I found most facinating was the mix of old and new, ancient and modern, which surrounds Shabanu's life -- open cooking fires and arranged marriages on the same page with air conditioning and automatic weapons! In fact, one is well into the book before it is clear the story is actually set in the late 20th century! This gives us Westerners a peek into the complexities of Eastern societies which seem so at odds with our own. Yet the struggles of growing up, accepting and fitting into our societies is so universal, it unites us all!
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Summary: Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind review Eng. Assignment, pd. 3
Review: Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind, a book written by Suzanne Fisher Staples, tells the story of a strong-willed twelve year old girl brought up in a very close family of traveling camel herders called the Desert People, from the Cholistan desert in Pakistan. In her household she lives with her thirteen year old sister Phulan, whose beauty she admires and looks up to as well, her mother and father, her grandfather, one aunt and her two young sons. She benefits from being the youngest in a family with two daughters and also gets more freedom than most other girls her age. The calmness of the desert pleases Shabanu and she loves to take care of her camels and not be tied down with housework. In spite of this, Shabanu knows that she is approaching a marriageable age and is aware that this freedom of hers will soon be taken away and the importance on housework and obedience will be enhanced. Shabanu wants things for her to be unlike from other girls. However she is very loyal to her family and deals with her life as best as she can.
Phulan and Shabanu are both engaged for marriage to two brothers Hamir and Murad. Phulan is to be married to Hamir in the next few months and Shabanu in the coming year. As everyone is preparing for Phulan's wedding...BR>This is a very good account of a girl who is realizing what it means to be a woman in the culture of the Desert People of Pakistan, in which it seems a woman must sacrifice at any means. Also it tests how loyal a girl can be to her family so that they can keep their pride and honor. This would be a good recommendation for girls from the ages of thirteen and up, because it goes in depth of a girls feelings so well. Overall it is a very enjoyable book to read and see how life for the people in the desert is.
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Summary: WONDERFUL BOOK FOR ALL PRE-TEEN GIRLS
Review: I am 11 just like Shabanu at the beginning of the book. This book was VERY inspiring and explained the troubles in a girl's perspective about "growing-up". It has helped me along the way of growing-up myself and will be cherished in my heart forever! GREAT READ! COULDNT PUT IT DOWN~!
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Summary: A "MUST READ" for today's kids
Review: Shabanu is about a young Cholistani Muslim girl growing up in rural Pakistan as a camel herder. The story is seen through her eyes as she transforms from a young, impetuous, outspoken child of 11 into a woman at age 12 with the inner strength and resolve to fulfill her duty to her family and religion while facing a live of oppression, servitude and humility. Shabanu starts out as a free-spirited, intelligent girl who loves her life in the desert. As her sister prepares to wed at the tender age of 13, and Shabanu nears puberty, she begins to realize the role she will be expected to fill as an obedient wife and mother. The story not only beautifully reveals how she and her family deal with the hardship of desert life, tragedy, and loss, but also how they worship, celebrate, and love one-another. Shabanu learns about love, sorrow, compassion, and a full range of emotions as she struggles to balance her will to be free with her desire to protect her family. You can almost smell the curry and taste the milk tea as you follow Shabanu through her days. This book is a must for all kids 12 and up, but I would highly recommend in depth discussion with the younger age group.
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Summary: AWESOME...BUT SAD
Review: I LOVED THE BOOK IT WAS BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN THE ONLY PROBLEM IS IF I WERE SHABANU I WOULD BE HORRIFIED BY THE DECISION MY FATHER MADE FOR ME TO MARRY RAHIM IT SADENS ME THAT SHABANU MARRIED RAHIM WITH OUT LOVE AND WITH OUT WANTING TO I ALSO READ HAVELI THE BOOK WAS ALSO BEAUTIFUL WRITTEN DOWN ALTHOUGH I LOVED THE WAY IT WAS WRITTEN I WISH SUZANNE FISHER STAPLES WILL WRITE ANOTHER BOOK WITH HAPPY ENDINDS DONT GET ME WRONG I LOVED THE BOOK BUT I FELT SO CLOSE TO SHABANU WHILE I WAS READING IT WHEN I GOT TO THE END I FELT SO SAD FOR HER.
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Summary: Life in the Middle East, An Eye-opener
Review: This takes place in the Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The main character is a strong-willed 12 year-old that has to leave to tame her ways, so she can become a proper Middle Eastern style wife. In the Middle East at this time sons are what most families want, but that can not always be like in Shabanu's family where she is the second daughter. Arranged marriages are a practice still done in most countries in the Middle East and the woman usually has no say as to who her husband is to be. Instead the father of the woman arranges the marriage that will usually tie families together.
This book is a great drama that you will want to grab off the shelf. The author has worked in Asia and has a way to make you feel as though you are a part of her books. I would say that the emotion in this book will clutch you and make you want to keep reading. The book was exquisitely written in a way that anyone can feel as if they know Shabanu and her family. This is a book everyone should read to understand the Middle East better and the way of life in the Middle East.
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Summary: A great young adult book!
Review: I read this book about 10 years ago, when I was in high school. I read it before the second one came out. I went and bought the second book the day it came out! I wish the author had written a third one just to see what happens to Shabanu. It was a great story! After reading some of the reviews, I have to say this. The book is not about India or hinduism. Its about a Pakistani, Muslim girl! Recommended to all ages!
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Summary: New View of Life
Review: I have always found an interest in Indian culture and the mythology of Hinduism, the outfits and jewels of the Indian women, the sumptuous and lavish palaces and monuments, and the history. However, now I have had the chance to see not only a culture that neighbors India, but a new aspect of life.
Shabanu and her older sister, Phulan, live with their father, mother, haughty Aunt, and their two baby cousins. Although it is commented throughout the story by numerous characters that Dadi (Shabanu's word for her father)should be upset that he only has daughters and has to come up with large dowries to marry them off, Dadi is perfectly content with his two wonderful daughters. Phulan is a classic beauty, but also rather ditzy. Shabanu is a wild young girl, and she has to learn to calm herself and work in the house instead of herd the camels. Both girls are betrothed to their cousins, Shabanu to Murad, who is 4 years older than her, and Phulan to Hamir. The book paints a perfect portrait of the life of this nomadic family, as they travel across the desert from toba to toba to gather water. Shabanu tends her camels and does help birth one who will forever be in her childhood, which she names Mithroo. She accompanies her father to the carnivals and fairs to sell some of the camels to pay for her and Philan's dowries (although her father sells the family's favorite camel who has been with them for a long time and is one of the best camels around, named Guluband). Although she is reminded of her wedding constantly, Shabanu refuses to become tame and obedient. Phulan is constantly thinking about her future husband and her clothes and beauty, so Shabanu has no one else to turn to and starts to discover her sexuality a little more. She is a little jealous of her sister's beauty (and her growing breasts), but she vows never to become like her simple-minded sister. When the family goes off to Hamir's and Murad's house, accompanied by cousins and family, all is in order. They are well recieved and the families gather far and round for the wedding of Phulan and Hamir. However, one day, when Shabanu goes to the river by Hamir's and Murad's house, she happens upon the landlord and his hunting party. All the men being fat and ugly, yet girl crazy, they plan to take Shabanu against her will. When Phulan comes to the river she of course acts stupid and starts shaking her hips and showing off herself, not knowing that these men plan to rape her. Shabanu drops her clay pot of water on the men and runs, taking Phulan. However, what they have done end sup with an escape through the desert on camels, the death of Hamir, and the destruction of every dream that the family had. When their parents and aunts figure out a compromise with the landlord, Phulan is to marry Murad and Shabanu is now to marry the landlord's brother, a 50 year old man with 3 wives. The story ends with Phulan's wedding and Shabanu running away from home so she won't have to marry, and her faher catching up to her and bringing her home. A nice point to stop before picking up in the sequel, Haveli.
This book was very interesting and captivating and introduced me to a new culture and world I had never bothered to notice before. The life of the people of the Cholistan Desert is a hard one full of death, loss, and arranged marriages. I was happy to have read this book and I highly recommend it.
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