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“This poignant novel of a traveling bookmobile in the desert of Africa highlights the joy and — yes, let’s admit it — tumult that reading literature can bring to the human race. Hamilton’s writing takes us right into a small village and the lives of its inhabitants. An excellent book club selection.” –Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, TX

Life is short, but it’s wide.

(THANKS to Shannon Holman.)

The following ten readers won one copy each of The Camel Bookmobile. There were over 100 entrants who wrote about what libraries have meant to them. Here’s what the ten winners said:

I am 37 years old and have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 9. I do not drive and I depend on my husband for a lot of things. One of my favors is that he picks up my books at the library. I am able to go online and find my favorite books and for the next week I am deeply engrossed in someone else’s life, another world, or sometimes even another planet. Reading takes away my pain and helps me escape and my library and bookclubs like Author Buzz bring new authors to my as if introducing me to new friends. – Lisa, Toms River, NJ

I became an avid reader in elementary school where I was a regular visitor to the school library, and I walked to my neighborhood library as often as I could. When my library branch moved further away from my house, my walks became longer, so therefore, I had to check out more books per visit. I would carry a stack of books home in my arms, with an open book on top so I could read while I walked. My mother frequently received phone calls from concerned neighbors who worried I would step off a curb in front of oncoming traffic, because they believed I “never lifted my nose out of the book” long enough to check the traffic flow… I continue to make regular use of my library to this day (I am now 62 years old). – Bonnie, Ridgefield, WA

As an elementary school student, I remember the bookmobile that came to my neighborhood and the library in the school. I read books like they had mimimum daily requirements. So much of the world opened up to me in books. I saw different places in our country and in others. I sampled numerous cultures and traveled back and forward in time. That was the start of a life-long relationship with libraries and reading. – Peggy, Idaho Falls, ID

Books have always been an important part of my life and especially those from the library. I grew up in a small town in Nebraska (about 500 people). During the summer months, my visits to the library were cherished. I traveled so many miles through the stories I read without ever leaving the dirt roads of my farming community. I think I read nearly every book the library had! – Rebecca, Charlotte, NC

I can still remember the smell of the bookmobile that would visit our elementary school every week. Even though we had a wonderful school library, and my sisters and I were blessed with a mother who encouraged reading and took us to our local library every Saturday, that small bus was just a wonderful place to get to visit. Books packed top to bottom, every inch crammed with books. And to think, you could pick out any book there and get to take it home, bring it back, and get another. And the selection inside would change like magic! Our regional library kept its bookmobile until just a few years ago. I loved to see it parked beside the library, its green color slowly fading in the hot Mississippi sun. What a blessing that bus was to so many children. – Brenda, Brookhaven, MS.

There are so many reasons I love libraries starting from the wonderful smell of books. My hometown library has introduced me to people, places, history, cultures, true lives, inspiration & adventures I’ll never physically experience in this short life. Each and every book I’ve read has helped me imagine all the different aspects of living…There isn’t a better place to get to know the world and other readers than a hometown library, what fun it is to sit in the swing spending an afternoon with good people and great reading. – Ann, Charlton Heights, WV

Since I was a very young child, the library has been a place of refuge and wonder, an oasis to quench my never ending thirst for knowledge. This love of the library was so intense that when I was in first grade and was naughty at school, the nuns punished me by taking away my library privilege for the week – absolute torture! … Today, at age 56, I still go to the library. Every Saturday you’ll find me at the Library, in my favorite chair, reading for at least an hour… And anyone who suggests taking away my library privileges will have a fight on their hands! – Tessa, Bayside, WI

When the word library comes up in conversation, I think about the year I was 16. I had just received my driver’s license. My mother was going to allow me to drive the family car “alone.” She asked me, “Where would you like to go for your first drive? It can’t be too far, you know.” “I’ll go to the library.” The year was 1960. Philadelphia was a city of exciting sights and sounds, but the library was my building of choice. When I arrived at the library, I backed into a parking spot. I smashed and flattened the Pontiac Catalina’s fin on a tree nodule that was sticking out by the side of the street. (invisible to see because it was a smidge lower than the scope of the rearview mirror). What happened after that is a whole other story, but my love for the library never diminished, not then, not now, not ever. – Frances, Orlando, FL

Libraries have always been a big part of my life, because from an early age I have been addicted to books. There’s no other way to say it, I love to read! When I was younger my family didn’t have a lot of extra money because my parents were going to missions school so they could be missionaries in China, and during that time I was enrolled in a private school so that I could have the best education possible. This meant a lot of financial strain on my parents, and there wasn’t enough money to buy much in the way of food a lot of the times, let alone books. Without the local and school libraries. I would have never had the opportunity at that young age to continue to fulfill my desire for books – Rebekah, Tulsa, OK

My love affair with the library began when I was about seven in central Wisconsin. Our little village library was open two days a week, Monday and Friday. The room was equivalent to the size of a large spare bedroom and it was crammed with books. Mrs. Spencer, the librarian, had all the books organized and categorized. My sisters and I would walk to the library on these days and get our books. Coming from a rather strict family, we could count on the fact that when we got back home, we’d be able to read. Mom never interrupted us when we were reading. By age 10, I had my first job…at the library shelving returned books. At first I did it for fun and then Mrs. Spencer agreed to pay me ten cents an hour. I was in HEAVEN!! – Shirley, Issaquah, WA

Rich and evocative prose that skillfully exposes the stark realities of poverty and charity in today’s Africa. Highly recommended for any fiction collection. – Library Journal, STARRED

A poignant, ennobling, and buoyant tale of risks and rewards, surrender and sacrifice. — Booklist, STARRED

Takes us right into a small village and the lives of its inhabitants. An excellent book club selection. — Book Sense choice by Independent Booksellers

Captivating third novel… Hamilton weaves memorable characters and elemental emotions in artful prose with the lofty theme of Western-imposed “education” versus a village’s perceived perils of exposure to the developed world. — Publishers Weekly

Vibrates with the life and landscape of Africa … peopled with characters readers can’t help but care about deeply. — BookPage

Hamilton’s portrayal of nomadic culture is lovingly and colorfully told. It’s a painterly glimpse into a world that few Westerners will ever see. – USA Today

Hamilton makes us see how much is really at stake in a poverty-stricken place where every possession carries the weight of significance. A larger conflict wouldn’t do justice to the notion of honor as lived by these people; it extends all the way down to the smallest stack of books. — New York Times

This captivating story about a determined chick with a big heart will touch you deeply. — Cosmo Magazine

Hamilton’s writing is so vivid that you’ll feel the Kenyan heat emanting from the pages, you’ll feel the dust on your arms … This is one of those books that you’ll want to pass on to your friends immediately. — Albany Democrat Herald

Quite possibly, this is one of those books you will remember the rest of your life. — Oshkosh Public Library, WI

“Masha Hamilton’s magical new novel transported me across the globe, teaching me about faith, ambition, and the surprise of love. Fi is a character to fall for and cheer for. Her interactions with the people of Mididima are spellbinding and broke my heart.” – Amanda Eyre Ward  

“I’ve always known that books can change lives. Masha Hamilton has opened my eyes to how books can also change entire communities, and not always in the ways one might expect. The Camel Bookmobile is a brave and astonishing novel; it transported me to a world I hadn’t known, and my life is all the richer for it.” – Gayle Brandeis

“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. My only regret was that the book had to end.” – Margot Livesey 

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Shelf Awareness.com: The Camel Bookmobile: Fiction and Fact

The idea for Masha Hamilton’s new novel, The Camel Bookmobile (HarperCollins), came from a source close to home: her daughter. Hamilton was driving her three children to the library when her daughter told her about a camel bookmobile she had heard of in Africa that had one strict edict. If anyone in a settlement failed to return a book, the mobile library would not go back there. The anecdote struck a chord with Hamilton. “There was something about the camel library and that rule,” she said. “I started to feel the story.” Within minutes Hamilton had outlined the basic premise of the novel. She spent the next three years writing The Camel Bookmobile, which is now an April Book Sense pick. 

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