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The Camel Bookmobile: A Novel (P.S.) | 
 enlarge | Author: Masha Hamilton
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $5.86
You Save: $8.09 (58%)
New (33) Used (22) from $5.86
Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 52025
Media: Paperback
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.9
ISBN: 0061173495
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780061173493
ASIN: 0061173495
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Fiona Sweeney wants to do something that matters, and she chooses to make her mark in the arid bush of northeastern Kenya. By helping to start a traveling library, she hopes to bring the words of Homer, Hemingway, and Dr. Seuss to far-flung tiny communities where people live daily with drought, hunger, and disease. Her intentions are honorable, and her rules are firm: due to the limited number of donated books, if any one of them is not returned, the bookmobile will not return. But, encumbered by her Western values, Fi does not understand the people she seeks to help. And in the impoverished small community of Mididima, she finds herself caught in the middle of a volatile local struggle when the bookmobile's presence sparks a dangerous feud between the proponents of modernization and those who fear the loss of traditional ways.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 The gift of books is eternal May 3, 2007
z hayes (plano,texas)
23 out of 24 found this review helpful
This is such a lyrical and moving story about the power of books to transform one's life. Fiona Sweeney's efforts in bringing enlightenment and knowledge into the lives of people in the African bush is a story that is poetically beautiful and rings true. I myself remember the bookmobile that used to be the highlight of my young life back in Malaysia. There was a dearth of English books in the school library and to me, the bookmobile represented a window to a wonderful world full of possibilities. Masha Hamilton's book brings back those fond memories for me, and it is a joy to read how books still have the power to transport people, even in the most remote regions of the world, to a whole new world filled with infinite possibilities.
What a Wonderful Idea!! May 2, 2007
Amy Leemon (North Fond du Lac, WI)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
This book succeeds on many different levels. The storyline is intriguing (imagine books being carried by camel to remote villages in Kenya), there's romance and disappointment, questions on different values in nations and whether its good for one nation to impose its values on another (you'll be thinking about that one for a while),a little mystery and a heroine who means well but manages to learn even while she's trying to educate others.
There really is a camel bookmobile and to read more about it and see photographs, google Camel Book Drive.
This is an exceptional book.
Cultures Clash In The Camel Bookmobile May 23, 2007
Linda Rigel (Rocklin, CA USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
The Camel Bookmobile is the kind of novel that made me love reading in the first place. Fiona Sweeney travels from New York City to Africa to bring books on camels to villages that follow the rains. In this world, books are as threatening as they are liberating, and their mere presence causes a variety of personal reactions in the people the bookmobile "serves." Fi is drawn into these intrigues in little Mididima when she goes to help resolve a crisis over some missing books. The villagers are no blank slates waiting for the miracle of books -- she rides into a hotbed of desire, disappointment, genius, loss, and love.
Masha Hamilton's long experience reporting all over the world informs her work; her novels don't serve up tidy endings. Here she acknowledges the mundane reality that things do fall apart, but it is effort and intention that make the meaning of things. Cultures clash in The Camel Bookmobile, good intentions may be misplaced -- or not. Hamilton shows how seeds of change never grow in neat rows; and though the gardener may not be present at the harvest, it doesn't mean it was futile to lay the plants.
moving and important April 8, 2007
JT (NJ)
16 out of 20 found this review helpful
Hamilton's novel is a moving and brilliant exploration of the way literature can bridge cultures, offer hope, and transform lives. Fiona is an American librarian, brimming with good intentions, who travels to Africa to run a camel-powered bookmobile and discovers that good deeds often come with a hefty price tag. What's so amazing about this book is that real life bristles on every page. Hamilton writes gorgeous books--but even better than that, she writes important ones.
Beautifully Accomplished. June 9, 2007
Leslie Sims (Los Angeles, CA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I bought this book as a recommendation from a friend as he knew my interests and thought this would be perfect. I wasn't in the least bit disappointed. Hamilton unravels the tale of Fiona Sweeney, a modern librarian from the states, who has a mission and a goal: bringing education to the tribal peoples of Africa.
With multiple twists and turns to the plot that I didn't foresee when I first picked up the book, I was pleasantly surprised. Hamilton's writing is not only beautiful and captivating, but also brings forth a sense of importance. It's a book with awareness and a deep spiritual connection that left me with a 'united' feeling. I was both enamored and amused by the supporting cast, but also left with a feeling of kinship with Fi who has a strong belief in what she does. She's the type of woman who wont go down without a fight, strong but still emotional. She has a certain need to fulfill this mission and even when turned away, she is assertive and determined in her belief.
From the dusky, romantic setting of Africa to the sense of balance in Fi Sweeney's heart, this book was a delight. The awareness of the subject matter is brought into strong focus, yet still maintains a balance of wonderful writing. A true success.
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