Kogiopsis's Reviews > Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind

Read as part of my ongoing shelf audit. Verdict: Donated to the library fundraiser sale so they can make 50 cents off of it.

This is the kind of book which gets a Newberry for being something adults think kids should read, but which I can't imagine played particularly well with its supposed target audience. It's a nuanced portrait of life in the desert of eastern Pakistan, but not in a way that I feel would actually engage young readers. It's also, ultimately, got a pretty depressing ending - as anyone who's read the cover copy for the sequel knows, Shabanu ends up in a loveless marriage to an older man, because he's rich and it's better than being raped by his brother. Which is true, but... yikes.

The thing is, I credit that Fisher Staples' portrayal of Cholistani lives is probably accurate, or at least was when the book was published, and a disappointing ending is likely accurate to the experience of young women in these societies. It just... isn't something I have a strong desire to read fiction about.