Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind

A colleague has been sharing her adolescent fictional reads, which have been focusing on young women and their struggles in harsh physical and emotional environments. Shabanu provides an insightful perspective of modern day nomadic, Pakistani culture. Suzanne Fisher Staples actually lived in Pakistan and her experiences shaped this interesting read. It took a bit of time for me to get immersed in the story as I was waiting for the incident described on the back cover to take place. My advice while reading this book is to forget the incident and concentrate on appreciating the well-constructed characters, which include the animals. Staples does a terrific job of bringing the personalities of the animals to life. I wish I could nuzzle Mithoo’s neck!