Camel Rider

by Prue Mason

War has broken out in the Middle East and all foreigners are fleeing. Instead of escaping with his neighbors, Adam sneaks off to save his dog, which has been left behind. Lost in the desert, Adam meets Walid, an abused camel boy who is on the run. Together they struggle to survive the elements and elude the revengeful master from whom Walid has fled. Cultural and language barriers are wide, but with ingenuity and determination the two boys bridge their differences, helping each other to survive and learn what true friendship is.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, School, Realistic Fiction, Contemporary, Adventure, Middle Grade

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Prue Mason grew up on a farm in South Australia. She is a licensed pilot and has travelled the world working in various jobs, including teaching English as a foreign language and working for a children’s magazine in Dubai. Besides writing, Prue does workshops and gives presentations at schools and writing festivals. In 2005, her first book Camel Rider won the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award and was a Notable Book at the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards. Prue has received several grants towards research for her books, including a May Gibbs fellowship for Amazing Australians in Their Flying Machines.

Reviews

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished reading this book because it was about the Middle East, war, children and learning to communicate. Young adult literature about Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and even made-up places in the Middle East has the potential to be Important so I always try to read it.

The best part was the back and forth between Adam and Walid, neither understanding the other due to language and culture. Walid would say "this goat, we must kill it and then we will have food"; Adam responds "yeah, its a nice goat and will keep us company". Beyond that, the book was completely unrealistic, contrived and even possibly offensive, with American forces swooping in to save the day and bring Peace and Liberty back to a war-torn land.

[Coppershimmer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ad-am

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in an imaginary Arabic country, two boys, one Australian and one Bangladeshi, must try to survive in the desert during a war despite their different cultures and languages. The story is told in alternating first person voices of the two boys, distinguished by different fonts. It was amusing and interesting to see how their relationship evolves and how they learn to somewhat understand each other. I couldn't put this one down! It was very suspenseful. In fact, I read it in one sitting. I just had to find out how it ended. The author is Australian, and uses some Australian idioms that I had to get used to, but it didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story at all. I'd love to read more by this author. Highly recommended!

[Tyler Bosma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in English class. It was great. The characters are funny. U should read now.

[Isabella G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good and funny too.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked Walid…not Ad-am……the ending was a bit disappointing though….u could’ve made a special character Walid’s mom

[Sarah Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great novel for the 10-14 year age group. I found it in amongst deleted items from our school library. Set in a fictitious middle eastern country it is the story of how two boys from very different cultures (one Australian, the other Pakistani) meet by chance and survive against the odds of the desert. The boys try to communicate despite not understanding each other's language which makes for an interesting story. The narrative moves between the two characters, and each needs to try to understand and overcome the prejudices they have about the other. As an adult reader I still found the story entertaining.

[Rekha M · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really good book that my class read in school. I definitely recommend it. The book is based on the issues of communication and how sometimes miscommunication can be good. Have fun reading!

[R Macbeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Camel rider is a book set in the oil rush period of the middle east the story begins in a made up city called abudai,The mane characters are an australian boy called adam and an indian boy called walid. the reason adem was in abudai was because that his farther worked for an airline at abudai and his family came to abudai with him. the reason walid was there was because after his farther had died in india his mother and him had moved to arabia hopping for a better life but walid was sold to slave traders who sold him to a group of mean camel racers and his mother became a maid. when an enemy country attacked abudi adems family were some were else so he was taken with the hartlisses who accidentaly left him at a servo. moving back to walid the reaso he was dumped in a dersert was because he had losened the hobbles on a camel and another person had startled the camel and the camel tripped and severly broke its leg and it had to be put down. after bying left behind adam wondered in the desert untill he found walid from there they roughly comunicated and wondered ooking for away out wich they find in the end

[Bec (becklebooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

[Tatum R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good, although I got confused at times. Overall I recommend this!

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Camel Rider by Prue Mason
This story begins in the Middle East of Dubai. The young boy named Adam is the main character in the story. Adam and his family live here in Dubai. There on the mission of fleeing this war that is happening in the country and are focused on crossing the border. Adam finds out there is no room for his loved dog. The base of the story comes from his adventures of trying to find his way back home to his dog. He meets this young lost boy in the desert that has no place to call home. This boy’s name is Walid. He comes from an abandoned family and he also is trying to find his way home.
The two of these boys meet in a desert and are determined to find home and also are battling survival; they go through many challenges on their way. Challenges many would never know how to do. They also face difficulties with two different cultures because Walid goes off of the religion Allah. Walid also doesn't speak english which causes a lot of difficulties. Adam becomes very close with this goat that they find and Walid thinks otherwise of this goat and thinks it should be used as food. So in english translation Walid says “Adam, we must kill the goat for food. This meat is good. Not like the meat of a dog”. Adam only gets somewhat of what he is saying and answers by saying “yeah dogs are good”. Walid then pursues to kill the goat that morning.
So the difficulties they have with each other are very amusing because it gives a good laugh and is relatable to people who have a friend from another country and are just trying to talk with them. I liked this book because of the differences these two boys have throughought the book and it was very cool to see their end result of teamwork. The only part of this I would say were not my favorite was because it was a little challenging to keep up with.

[Emily Bell · Rating 1 out of 5]

What I Liked
Seeing a communication struggle between boys of two cultures and a developing friendship was comical and sweet.

What I Didn't Like
Essentially everything else. Truly, I have not read a book as racist as this since reading the original Elsie Dinsmore series that was written about slave times by a southerner DURING slave times.

Walid is portrayed as an often stupid foreigner, even in his personal narrative. While his writing is in English, supposedly translated from what he's thinking in his head, it's written in broken English. He thinks of the boy as Infidel and often makes silly, unrealistic conclusions about Adam based on his "foreignness." An example of this would be that they got soaked by rain, so Adam gave Walid a change of clothes. Despite the fact that they changed at the same time, Walid put the underwear on his head and wore it like a hat for the rest of the book.

Another racist issue was that the white Westerners saved the day in every scenario. Any local Abudai person was too incapable or barbaric to solve anything themselves. Yikes, I cringed in every scene of this entire book. The bad guys literally had names that translated to things like Goat and Breath of Dog.

And finally, the editing of Camel Rider was horrendous. There were MULTIPLE grammar and spelling mistakes. Despite the fact that the title is Camel Rider, we never actually see Walid in this profession or really grasp why it's a humanitarian issue.

[Thistle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good YA/MG books are entertaining for readers of any age, but you can't fault one of them for not being enjoyable for adults, since we're not their target audience.

Camel Rider was set in a modern day, fictional city in the Middle East. The city gets bombed, and a western (Australian) boy escapes the city and wanders in the desert, nearly dying. At the same time, an Arabic boy sold into slavery makes a bad mistake and his owner leaves him out in the desert to die (which really had made no sense, the owner could have sold him and regained some money, but whatever). The two boys met, and at that point I stopped reading. Everything was too simple, the characters were black/white, and the story was too predictable. But, like I said, I wasn't the target audience. Perhaps young kids would enjoy this book.

Stopped at: 29%

[Monte Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Camel rider is a very Adventurous book by Prue Mason and it was published in 2007. you would like it because it’s descriptive and intense at some parts also very enjoyable

Adam is a cautious person until his world goes upside down and gets thrust into action. And his friend Walid is a person he meets along the way and he is a very into action type person who got himself into trouble and had trust issues at first. This took place in Abudai morning before Adam and Walid met and after the action Adam will soon be chased'

I like the author's story telling cause it gives me some good images of what is happening in the story. This is one of my favorite quotes “that was so cool” Walid used the pocket knife to attack the two men harming them and Adam thought it was so cool I think others would like to read this book from how much he grows in the wild.

[Lia Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Camel Rider by Prue Mason is such an exhilarating book about two boys Adam and Walid who live in different backgrounds. Adam lives in more of an efficient neighborhood while Walid on the other hand lives in poverty as he is an abused little boy , there is a war going on in the Middle East and instead of Adam trying to save himself he goes back for his dog and that's where him and Walid meet since Walid was on the run from bad people who treated him miserably. Together they are going to have to help each other survive through the war. Anyone who are into suspense/thriller books would love this book because there's so much action going on. This book involves religion, action and violence and that's what makes it exciting.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a children's book it was quite exciting. Two boys, an Australian whose Dad works in the Middle East as a pilot and the other from Bangladesh, find themselves thrust together trying to survive and reach safety from the expansive desert. They do not have a common language and misunderstandings ensue as they try to escape the harsh desert and bad men who are hunting Walid, the Bangladeshi boy.
Although it could seem a bit far-fetched at times it nonetheless rang pretty true as to the reactions and interactions of our protagonists.

[Mariem · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book about how close you can get to people over tragic things. To me, the camel rider shows how people need to be the most real them at all times because you'll never know what could happen.

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The interaction between the two main characters is excellent. Unfortunately the ending is somewhat weak. The author seems to have felt the need to explain the themes in the book in the final chapter.

[Anne Maddox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but the plot just dragged. I think it was a good idea, but not my favorite writing.

[alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

just a quick read I picked up at the library but has a sweet story. it's the first Middle Eastern themed book I've read and it's gaged my interest

[Natalia J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Camel Rider was a very good book. I was interesting and action packed.

[Madison Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It had a lot of detail and you could follow what was going on. I felt it needed a bigger difference in the text when the two boys were together.

[Saira · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kid's book but I liked it.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book a week ago or so, I just never updated Goodreads

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that Camel Rider had a good plot, but I think that it took too long. It probably could be condensed into 50 less pages. Otherwise, I did like it.

[Faiza Haq · Rating 1 out of 5]

bland plot. no smut. boring. nothing new.

[Goldenwattle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. It improved towards the end and gained one more star from me.

[Amandalea Goebel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

[Samuel Nakat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Camel Rider by Prue Mason Synopsis: War has broken out in the Middle East and all foreigners are fleeing. Instead of escaping with his neighbors, Adam sneaks off to save his dog, which has been left behind. Lost in the desert, Adam meets Walid, an abused camel boy who is on the run. Together they struggle to survive the elements and elude the revengeful master from whom Walid has fled. Cultural and language barriers are wide, but with ingenuity and determination the two boys bridge their differences, helping each other to survive and learn what true friendship is.

Reading the first chapter of the book, I already knew this book would not be one I enjoyed. I was uninterested by the blurb at the back of the book and even the cover turned me off. My fears were soon confirmed; the first chapter of the book was boring, poorly written, stereotypical and clichéd. From then on I shuddered at the thought of continuing the novel, but I knew that I had to. My thoughts after reading the book were mostly the same as my thoughts first reading the book. The characters were boring throughout the whole book. Adam’s character went no further than ‘Western boy stereotype that likes to surf’. Walid’s character is less of a stereotype, but still not exactly an interesting character. The book is written relatively lazily; there are plenty of clichéd and cheesy lines including the last line of the book ‘We then jumped up and did the best hi-five ever’ (This happens multiple times throughout the book). I thought the idea for the book was kind of interesting, it is just that it wasn’t executed all that well. The book isn’t all bad though. It does have a small amount of interesting and what could be described as ‘harrowing’ events in the book. The banter between Adam and Walid is occasionally amusing. I was rooting for Adam to get home, not because I liked his character, but because I wanted his dog to survive (Yes, the dog is the best character in this book) and as a result of this, it made the book more entertaining.
I would not recommend this book. It bored me, made me dread the next time I read, and just completely ruined my incentive to read; these are all feelings I rarely get. If it was not for the few glimmering moments of entertainment littered around the book, I would give it one star. Instead, though, my rating for Camel Rider is two stars.