this is a great book about a little girl Nadia who looses her brother and learns to cope with it. Any child dealing with death could benefit from this book ( )

Characters:
· Nadia- A Bedouin girl who is stubborn and ‘willful’
· Tarik- Nadia’s father, the sheik, who is known for being kind and fair
· Hamed- Nadia’s oldest brother, who is the only one who can calm her

Notes:
o Good book for Hospice or grief support groups
o Hamed disappears in the desert (non-paginated)
o Nadia screams and cries. She and Tarik are inconsolable and grief-stricken
o Tarik forbids Hamed’s name from being mentioned, and he becomes cold and distant
o Nadia becomes angry and resentful when she can’t speak of her brother
o Nadia decides to speak of Hamed, which continually eases her pain
o Nadia speaks of him to the others, and they feel better too, but worry about Tarik’s reaction
o Nadia convinces her father if he will listen to her and speak of Tarik, it will help to heal him
o Nadia is no longer referred to as Nadia the Willful, but Nadia the Wise

Subjects/topics/themes: grief, loss of a sibling, Arabic culture

Related titles: I Miss You: A First Look at Death, Tear Soup,

Annotation: When this story begins it, as well as the title, makes you believe that it is just another book about a bratty girl. Nadia is headstrong and ‘willful,’ and when she loses the only person who calms her she really is a troubled child. The important message in this book is that an important part of the grieving process is acknowledging and talking about the loss of a loved one.

When Nadia the Willful's eldest brother Hamed fails to return from a trip into the desert, their father forbids anyone to say his name again. But Nadia refuses to forget her brother and continues to tell people about him to keep him alive in their memories.

$4.99