Staples, S. F. (1989). Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind. New York, NY: Dell Laurel-Leaf.
Genre: This book is a Multi-cultural novel because it is written about a specific culture and includes the experiences that are specific to that culture.
Age Level: 7th grade and up (age 12 and up)
I started to read Shabanu because I have always been interested in reading about the culture of those in the Middle East, especially that of the women who live there. While reading I could not but help to compare it to novels that I had read by Khaled Housseini, The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. I compared these books because they paint portraits of the lives of those women in the Middle East. This book would be very interesting to read with middle school and even high school students to get their input and thoughts on this culture. There are many opportunities to talk about the culture and about the similarities between Shabanu and themselves.
The novel Shabanu is set in the desert of Pakistan near the border of India in the Cholistan Desert. The family that is central to the story contains a mother, father, and two daughters: Shabanu and her older sister Phulan. The family has the unfortunate fate of not having sons and is preoccupied and worried about arranging good marriages for their daughters. Phulan and Shabanu are destined to marry brothers. Phulan is to marry first, and Shabanu will follow the next year. Shabanu is the main character in the book and tells her story through a first-person point of view. She speaks in a voice that describes the desert as a place that she loves, including the camels that she cares for. She is a strong and independent character, who is vastly different from her sister who longs for and dreams of getting married to her fiancé Hamir. Shabanu’s story is about growing up and accepting her fate and of leaving child-like things behind. One of those is the beloved camel Guluband, which her father sells to high bidder at a fair. Guluband is a symbol of Shabanu’s inability to control her own fate, despite her strong will to be happy. As Shabanu begins to accept her betrothal to Murad, a turn of events shatters any happiness that Shabanu could have looked forward to. The rising action and climax of this book comes at the death of Hamir, her sister’s fiancé, at the hand of his landlord. Shabanu ‘s fate is changed when she is sold into a marriage with a much older man to save the land that Murad and Hamir live on. The betrayal that Shabanu feels sets her into motion to try to take charge of her own life.
As I read this book, I sometimes had a difficult time imagining the activities that were going on in the story, simply because the family lives in the desert and it is very difficult to imagine or put into your mind what the character describes and sees. However, Shabanu’s character, or should I say the author, does a fabulous job of using imagery to help me imagine what is happening in the story. Even though I have never been in a sand storm, I could feel through the words, how the family feels after being covered in sand: “We are exhausted and sick, our skin raw from the sand, our voices gone from shouting and gulping in dust. I close my burning eyes and let Dadi lead me home.” Shabanu also describes the desert in this way: “…we split up, Dadi walking into the sun, quivery and pale on the horizon, and I with my back to it.” The description of the desert in this way lets us know that the heat and sun is pale and white, increasing our feeling of the intensity of the heat that is felt there.
Shabanu can be used in the classroom for comparison and contrast activities. Students can compare and contrast cultures and Shabanu’s character and thoughts from their own. This novel lends itself to readers who may not understand this culture and gives us insight to its differences from our own. Students who read this book can try to relate Shabanu’s thoughts and feelings to their own. Students who feel that they are not in control of their own lives can relate to Shabanu, as well as students who have hopes and dreams for their own futures.
Some big questions that could be asked in the classroom about this novel are:
How would the family be different if they had sons? How would Shabanu’s life be different if she had married Murad? Do you think she would have lost her will and independence even if she had married him? Do you feel that Shabanu’s family betrayed her or do you think they did what was best for her? Why do you feel this way?
Here is some more information about Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind and some ways to use the book in the classroom:
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