Carrie G's Reviews > Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind

This book won a Newbery Award?!?! Ok... first, this is one of those books that adults who read children's/ya books like, but the actual children/teens don't like at all. Second, this won an award for CHILDREN'S literature? What children are reading this? I wouldn't give this to children! My high school students, yes, but a 4th graders? No way!

That being said, I did NOT enjoy this book. I wanted to like it. A colleague highly recommended it. But I just couldn't connect with Shabanu. She seemed devoid of emotion to me. She SAID she felt things, but nothing she DID really made me believe she had any feelings. It was interesting to read about this nomadic, desert culture, and Mithou the camel (am I spelling that right? I don't have the book in front of me) really won my heart. That's why I gave this two stars and not one, but those are the only nice things I can say about this book.

I was considering it for my Childhood Lost unit, and it would have been a good fit, I just couldn't imagine making my students read it. However, were someone going to teach it, it would pair well with "I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced."