As the youngest of two daughters living in a nomadic family of camel herders in contemporary Pakistan, eleven-year-old Shabanu has enjoyed a great deal of freedom but she knows, as she faces the prospect of marriage in the coming year, she must begin to conform to the rigid role proscribed for women in her culture. In the character of Shabanu, Staples created a spirited individual who internalizes conflict as a means of rebelling against a system in which she is powerless. The highly sensual novel is rich in cultural and geographical details, allowing readers to enter into Shabanu's world and experience her joys and her sorrows. (Age 11 and older)