Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind — Suzanne Fisher Staples

DIGNITY OR DISHONOR?
Life is both sweet and cruel to strong-willed young Shabanu, whose home is the wind- swept Cholistan Desert of Pakistan. The second daughter in a family with no sons, she's been allowed freedoms forbidden to most Muslim girls. Yet her parents soon grow justifiably concerned that her independence and disinterest in "women's work" will lead to trouble.

As tradition dictates, Shabanu's father has arranged for her to be married in the coming year. Though this will mean an end to her liberty, Shabanu accepts it as her duty to her family. Then a tragic encounter with a wealthy and powerful landowner ruins the marriage plans of her older sister, and it is Shabanu who is called upon to sacrifice everything she's dreamed of. Should she do what is necessary to uphold her family's honor -- or should she listen to the stirrings of her own heart?