What do you think?
Rate this book
Nadia the Willful
When her favorite brother disappears in the desert forever, Nadia refuses to let him be forgotten, despite her father's bitter decree that his name shall not be uttered.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
10 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
Sue Alexander
41 books16 followersAt an early age Sue Alexander learned to attract other children’s interest and approval by telling stories. Her passion for storytelling and her understanding of the emotional ups and downs of childhood have led her to write twenty-six books for children to date, notable for their appeal and variety. Alexander is also important for her pivotal role in the growth of an extraordinary international organization, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). At the cost of her own creative writing time, for more than twenty-five years she devoted countless hours to nurturing the group as it grew from three members to over twelve thousand, because, she says, “I was helped... It’s a giving back.”
Born August 20, 1933 in Tucson, Arizona, daughter of Jack M. and Edith Pollock Ratner, she moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was a year old and to Chicago when she was five. Small and uncoordinated for her age, Alexander, influenced by her mother, became a passionate reader. Gradually she used the stories she read, and some she made up, to amuse herself and sometimes others. She says this stage of her life is reflected in her award-winning chapter book, Lila on the Landing (1987) which “was a painful book to write” but let her make peace with the hurt of feeling different and being left out.
Her family life was more satisfying. She, her younger brother and her parents would go flying with her father, an avid pilot. She went with her grandfather to the Jewish markets and neighborhoods. She haunted book stores. Watching a revival of The Desert Song, Alexander was fascinated with the Bedouins on stage. Years later, she used that background in one of her most acclaimed books, Nadia The Willful (1983), a story she wrote to deal with the pain of her brother’s death. Nadia, a young Bedouin girl, disobeys her father’s command not to mention the death of his lost son, her beloved brother. As Nadia finds people with whom to talk about Hamed, she keeps his memory alive and her father ultimately learns that no one is dead if they are not forgotten.
Alexander planned to become a journalist, but while at Northwestern University she changed her major to psychology, which she says helped give her the understanding to make the characters in her stories more real. In her senior year, she left school to marry, and her first child, Glenn David, was born in 1956. When the marriage ended, Alexander moved to Los Angeles, where her parents were then living. She married Joel Alexander on November 29, 1959 and the couple had two children, Marc Jeffry and Stacey Joy.
Alexander had continued to write but it was not until the death of her mother in 1967 that she seriously focused on polishing her craft, determined to “do something with my life that would have pleased my mother...” Her first stories were published in children’s magazines and she reviewed children’s books regularly for the Los Angeles Times. Though Alexander had not yet published a book herself, it was at this time she became a charter member and active board member of the newly formed SCBW (later SCBWI), an involvement that over the years was to help educate and encourage hundreds of aspiring writers like herself.
When her daughter could find no suitable skits to put on with friends, Alexander wrote some, remembering her own imaginative youthful playlets, and Scholastic published Small Plays for You and A Friend in 1973. Alexander’s fourth book, Witch, Goblin and Sometimes Ghost (1976), a book she filled with “tender friendships and lovable foibles,” brought her critical notice and a wider audience of enthusiastic young readers. By popular demand, she revisited these lovable spooky characters several times. She also wrote two more play books, Small Plays for Special Days (1977) and Whatever Happened to Uncle Albert? And Other Puzzling Plays (1980). Other popular Alexander books are the “World Famous Muriel” series about a
Born August 20, 1933 in Tucson, Arizona, daughter of Jack M. and Edith Pollock Ratner, she moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was a year old and to Chicago when she was five. Small and uncoordinated for her age, Alexander, influenced by her mother, became a passionate reader. Gradually she used the stories she read, and some she made up, to amuse herself and sometimes others. She says this stage of her life is reflected in her award-winning chapter book, Lila on the Landing (1987) which “was a painful book to write” but let her make peace with the hurt of feeling different and being left out.
Her family life was more satisfying. She, her younger brother and her parents would go flying with her father, an avid pilot. She went with her grandfather to the Jewish markets and neighborhoods. She haunted book stores. Watching a revival of The Desert Song, Alexander was fascinated with the Bedouins on stage. Years later, she used that background in one of her most acclaimed books, Nadia The Willful (1983), a story she wrote to deal with the pain of her brother’s death. Nadia, a young Bedouin girl, disobeys her father’s command not to mention the death of his lost son, her beloved brother. As Nadia finds people with whom to talk about Hamed, she keeps his memory alive and her father ultimately learns that no one is dead if they are not forgotten.
Alexander planned to become a journalist, but while at Northwestern University she changed her major to psychology, which she says helped give her the understanding to make the characters in her stories more real. In her senior year, she left school to marry, and her first child, Glenn David, was born in 1956. When the marriage ended, Alexander moved to Los Angeles, where her parents were then living. She married Joel Alexander on November 29, 1959 and the couple had two children, Marc Jeffry and Stacey Joy.
Alexander had continued to write but it was not until the death of her mother in 1967 that she seriously focused on polishing her craft, determined to “do something with my life that would have pleased my mother...” Her first stories were published in children’s magazines and she reviewed children’s books regularly for the Los Angeles Times. Though Alexander had not yet published a book herself, it was at this time she became a charter member and active board member of the newly formed SCBW (later SCBWI), an involvement that over the years was to help educate and encourage hundreds of aspiring writers like herself.
When her daughter could find no suitable skits to put on with friends, Alexander wrote some, remembering her own imaginative youthful playlets, and Scholastic published Small Plays for You and A Friend in 1973. Alexander’s fourth book, Witch, Goblin and Sometimes Ghost (1976), a book she filled with “tender friendships and lovable foibles,” brought her critical notice and a wider audience of enthusiastic young readers. By popular demand, she revisited these lovable spooky characters several times. She also wrote two more play books, Small Plays for Special Days (1977) and Whatever Happened to Uncle Albert? And Other Puzzling Plays (1980). Other popular Alexander books are the “World Famous Muriel” series about a
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 20, 2018
A poignant tale of sibling and parental love and dealing with loss. Nadia and her father, Tarik, the sheik, lose someone very dear to both of them. Each chooses a unique way of dealing with his/her grief, which impacts everyone else in their small Bedouin community. Eventually someone has to take the next step to break the impasse. It is a wonderful book for discussing death, decisions, and family love with children of all ages. I think even very young children would be able to hear this story and benefit from it.
October 20, 2012
This fictional narrative takes place in a far eastern desert. Nadia's brother becomes lost in the desert and her father demands that no one speak of him again. Nadia learns that she remembers him better when she tells the stories that she remembers about him. She defies her father. Others are grateful for her defiance and begin to speak of him too.
As a teacher, this book would be a great starting place to facilitate a discussion on grief or loss. Although the illustrations are all black and white, they are still intriguing and show the life of tribal desert people (ex. herds of animals, tents, watering holes.)
As a teacher, this book would be a great starting place to facilitate a discussion on grief or loss. Although the illustrations are all black and white, they are still intriguing and show the life of tribal desert people (ex. herds of animals, tents, watering holes.)
May 25, 2019
This book is a beautiful story of coping with grief, and the wisdom of a child in helping others do so. The illustrations are also beautiful. The story, as a way of coping with grief, is five stars, and the illustrations are also five stars, but the setting, in a non-descript desert, with a sheik who as that title for the setting only, seems arbitrary and vague. As a story from around the world, which is my impetus for reading the book, the setting tells nothing of the real people and they feel like caricatures, that could have easily been replaced by an English fairy tale king, which is why I gave it four stars
September 18, 2024
I hadn’t read this since childhood, so I remembered only the title, but not what the book was about. Turns out it’s about grief, and how helpful it is to share memories of the person who has died and keep their influence alive in your community by talking together.
For a book about grief, I didn’t find it at all moving emotionally, and I was surprised by the setting given the white-sounding author’s name. It seems like it could be a useful story to share with kids who are dealing with loss, to let them know that it’s a helpful, positive idea to talk about the person they’ve lost, but I wouldn’t think it’s a story kids would ask to hear often for the fun of it.
For a book about grief, I didn’t find it at all moving emotionally, and I was surprised by the setting given the white-sounding author’s name. It seems like it could be a useful story to share with kids who are dealing with loss, to let them know that it’s a helpful, positive idea to talk about the person they’ve lost, but I wouldn’t think it’s a story kids would ask to hear often for the fun of it.
July 2, 2024
Such a beautiful story about loss and memory.
January 29, 2024
Nadia is the stubborn and willful daughter of a Bedouin sheik. The only person who can control her is Hamed, her oldest brother. When Hamed journeys to find new grazing lands and never returns, the sheik goes into deep mourning. He tells his people that Hamed's name must never be mentioned again. Nadia refrains from talking of Hamed for awhile, but her temper grows and becomes almost unmanageable. Then, one day she sees her younger brothers playing a game Hamed taught them. They are playing it incorrectly. In a fit of irritation, Nadia says Hamed's name. They are horrified at Nadia's disobedience. Undeterred, Nadia begins telling them all of the games and stories Hamed told her. Soon, the whole village is captured by the force of Hamed's personality and eagerly listens to Nadia's stories of this beloved eldest son. The sheik is unaware of Nadia's disobedience. Then, one of the shepherds says Hamed's name and is banished from the oasis. Nadia protests her father's harsh judgment and, in the process, teaches her father a valuable lesson.
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
©2024 Kathy Maxwell at https://bookskidslike.com
February 6, 2008
One of my favorite books as a child. Now one of the few I saved, and bring with me.
November 10, 2010
One of the best books I have read on processing the grief of a siblings death. Nadia guides her father to find healing after her brother's death. A must-read!
March 31, 2015
A surprisingly good early reader book about grief. We both enjoyed all aspects of the story.
December 14, 2015
This short story helped my students connect with the Bedouin culture, and it helped them understand that even small contributions can have significant impacts on a society.
April 10, 2017
This would be a great book to read to a child who has suffered a loss from death.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews