From: mdsoroka_at_aol.com <mdsoroka>
Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2005 01:56:13 -0400

I live in the Middle East where gender issues constantly frustrate and confound me.
 From a cultural viewpoint, two good books - Shabanu (Suzanne Fisher Staples) and Breadwinner (Deborah Ellis) show strong female main characters who struggle against the c ultural biases that confine/define them. (Good luck getting Shabanu past PABBIS). In Breadwinner Parvana must take on the role of a boy to provide for her family, and in Shabanu, Shabanu questions the role she must play as a woman in her society and tries
 to be someone she isn't allowed to be.
  It is difficult enough to be a teenager in this world, but to interact in both a Western environment (at school) and an Arab environment (at home) must be doubly confusing and conflicting for the young Arab women I meet in my school library. Strong role models found in books can be important guides as they work to find out who they are and where their place in this world can be.
  Marla Soroka American Community School Abu Dhabi, UAE
Received on Mon 25 Jul 2005 12:56:13 AM CDT