Masha Hamilton: The Camel Bookmobile

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. Kanika, a young girl who lives with her grandmother, devours every book she can lay her hands on. Her best friend is Taban aka 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 disappears...

This is an interesting story about assumptions and learning and teaching. Although Fi is very enthusiastic about bringing literature into the desert, she is also ignorant about how much she needs to learn herself rather than teach others. In their own nomadic lifestyle the villagers of Madidima are more civilised than Fi in her New York style will ever be. I loved the book although I found that it ended too quickly. It would have been great to go on for some more. However, the ending was very plausible anything other than Mididima "disappearing" would have been cheesy...