by Masha Hamilton (Author)
Once a fortnight, the nomadic settlement of Madidima, set deep in the dusty Kenyan desert, awaits the arrival of three camels laden down with panniers of books. This is the Camel Bookmobile, a scheme set up to bring books to scattered tribes whose daily life is dominated by drought, famine and disease. Into their world comes an unexpected wealth of literature - from the adventures of Tom Sawyer to strange vegetarian cookbooks and Dr Seuss. Kanika, a young girl who lives with her grandmother, devours every book she can lay her hands on. Her best friend is Scar Boy, a child who was mauled at the age of three by a hyena. They are joined by Matani the village teacher, his alluring wife Jwahir and the drummaker Abayomi, as well as Mr Abasi, the camel driver, who is convinced that one of the camels is possessed by the spirit of his dead mother-in-law. The only condition of The Camel Bookmobile is that every book must be returned or else the visits will cease. Then one day a book is stolen...
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336
Publisher: Phoenix
Published: 12 Jun 2008
ISBN 10: 0753823829
ISBN 13: 9780753823828
Book Overview: Highly commercial -- perfect for readers of Alexander McCall Smith as well as more literary titles such as The Kiterunner. Inspired by the real Kenyan Camel Mobile Library Paperback to include lavish Reading Group Notes and pictures of the real camel bookmobile Perfect for book groups - asks lots of questions about Western ideas of development as well as being heartwarming read 'In this vivid, absorbing novel Masha Hamilton transports her readers, even more surely than the camels do books, to the village of Mididima and the struggle between traditional values and western education. Richly peopled, full of conflicts and surprises, The Camel Bookmobile made me think and feel in all the best ways' Margot Livesey 'Hamilton vividly sketches the landscape of Africa...the novel's greatest strength is in the way it puts forward a balanced argument about the significance of the written word, capturing its power to delight and liberate at the same time as acknowledging its limitations in a world where shelter and food are not certainties' New Statesman