Lost Riders

by Elizabeth Laird

Taken to work in a strange country, Rashid and his little brother Shari cling to each other. Then they are separated and forced to become jockeys in the lucrative camel-racing business. Rashid is starved and worked to exhaustion by harsh supervisors - but he has a talent for racing and quickly becomes his stable`s star jockey. Soon he begins to forget what life was like when he had a proper home. He almost begins to forget about Shari...

Genres: Childrens, History, Middle East, Contemporary, Historical

304 pages, Hardcover

First published June 6, 2008

About the author

Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943, the fourth of five children. Her father was a ship's surgeon; both he and Laird's mother were Scottish. In 1945, Laird and her family returned to Britain and she grew up in South London, where she was educated at Croydon High School.
When she was eighteen, Laird started teaching at a school in Malaysia. She decided to continue her adventurous life, even though she was bitten by a poisonous snake and went down with typhoid.

After attending the university in Bristol, Laird began teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She and a friend would hire mules and go into remote areas in the holidays.

After a while at Edinburgh University, Laird worked in India for a summer. During travel, she met her future husband, David McDowall, who she said was very kind to her when she was airsick on a plane. The couple were married in 1975 and have two sons, Angus and William.

Laird has also visited Iraq and Lebanon. She claims to dislike snakes, porridge and being cold but enjoys very dark chocolate, Mozart, reading and playing the violin in the Iraq Symphony Orchestra.

She currently lives in Richmond, London with her husband.

Reviews

[Devika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had borrowed this book from my school library. The summary given behind the book was quite interesting which is the reason why I had taken this book. I started reading it the same day. I found the first few pages a bit boring but as I continued I realized what exactly the story was and I started to admire the beauty of the story. I used to think the various ways there could be a plot twist etc. I was longing for Rashid to reach back his home in Pakistan. This is one story that has always inspired me and the only thing I can say about this book is that I love it. It is indeed a must read story. An amazing work by Elizabeth Laird.

[Rebecca Hilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the first books I remember being completely engrossed in. I still can vividly see random scenes from this book in my head

[Rohit]

I chose this book because I had read it back in elementary, however, after reading it for the second time, I can see how much context I had missed out on. In this book, two characters, Rashid and Shari(Rashid's younger brother) had been tricked to go to work as camel jockeys with very poor pay and bad working conditions. However, they both could not simply just leave as their passports were held by the leaders of each uzba. Luckily for our main character, Rashid becomes a very talented jockey however the same can not be said for his brother. Unfortunately for Shari, there is little to no hope as he is just a kid that is 3 years old.

This book truly opens up our eyes and shows us how harsh the real world can be, I currently live in Sapporo, Japan. Japan is considered to be one of the safest countries in the world and reading this book showed me how I live in a bubble and have no experience living in the outside world. By reading this book we can all grow as human beings and understand how the world works. I would especially recommend this book to people that are currently in middle school or high school. This book is truly an eye-opener.

#HISReads
#Book-a-Week

[Hal Bolton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rashid, and his younger brother, Shari, are tricked into leaving their home in Pakistan and forced to work as camel jockeys in Dubai. Boys who race camels have to be small and light, so are often very young. Rashid and Shari are soon separated, and both are very badly treated by their new owners. They are beaten and starved, and attacked with electric camel prods, both as punishment and to stunt their growth. Rashid becomes a talented jockey, but his new world is cruel and dangerous. It is not certain whether he or his brother will survive.

I really liked this book and wish I could give it four and a half stars. I had never heard about children being treated in this way, and was shocked to find out that boys were sold into slavery as recently as 2005. I felt as thought the author had done a lot of research and knew this part of the world very well.

The ending felt a bit rushed for me, which is why I didn't give it five stars.

A real eye-opener of a book and I will definitely read more by Elizabeth Laird.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching book, definitely, but not enough to make me cry (unlike some people *cough*). I felt that the ending came too suddenly and it seemed like Ms Laird was running out of pages, trying to squeeze everything into about half a chapter or so. Some more prefiguring earlier in the story would have been nice. As far as I can tell it is fairly well-researched, and the portrayal of the characters' lives is very realistic.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Laird always writes a good book and this one is no exception as it focuses on the life of young camel jockeys; stolen from their families and forced to work on camel farms where they are underfed to keep their weight down, given electric shocks to stunt their growth, subject to harsh punishment if they disobey orders and face constant danger when racing the camels. "Lost Riders" is about Rashid, an eight year-old camel jockey.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book which I read with 10 year olds. Was greeted with mixed reviews by them - either loved it or hated it - I thought it was brilliant, and completely readable by adults too. Opened my eyes to a world I didn't know existed and lead to some interesting discussions with widely differing views - in my opinion the sign of a great book!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, heart wrenching story of two boys (aged 8 and 4)taken from their mother in Pakistan and forced to become camel riders in Dubai. Fortunately the laws have been changed to prevent this form of child trafficking anymore. Very compelling.

[Sarah Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel based on true events of parents forced to sell their children unwittingly into slavery. It gives an insight into the conditions that young boys were forced to endure in their like as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates.

[Zara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing, Elizabeth Laird is a great writing her writing was beautiful, and it was very captivating, and left me wanting more. This book really took me on a emotional roller coaster

I rate this book a 5/5 stars

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story about a family being tricked into lending their son to a rich family and be paid. In the end, their son ends up as a camel jockey and almost gets himself killed in a race

[Seb · Rating 5 out of 5]

its such a good book i want to get it i got it from the libary but i read it in 2 days.

[Immy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. Let's just say it is a good-read. It is filled with laughter tears and lots more of emotions. I would reccommend this book!

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opener of a book - about a world you perhaps cannot imagine (nor wish to), but a tremendous story, wonderfully told about child trafficking and camel racing in the Middle East.

[Aletta Van der tsatsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book and it is one of the most beautiful books i have read ..it brought me into tears.

[Rysa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! IT REMINDS ME OF HARRY POTTER AND PERCY JACKSON WHICH IS A VERY GOOD THING. I THINK.

[TurtleZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, good.
One mistake can change one adult and two children's life.
Not particularly a thriller, but an adventure, i'd say.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

[Bailintin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a somewhat harrowing story of camel racing in Dubai, and the exploitation of the children who were used as jockeys. Rashid and his brother, Shari, are taken from their poor family in Pakistan against the promise of becoming playmates to the son of a wealthy family in Dubai. But as is the way of such international arrangements so often, the reality is a far cry from the dream. Rashid is separated from his brother and forced to learn to become a camel jocky. To preserve his slight stature, he is fed a starvation diet and the conditions he lives in are poor and squalid as he is driven by hard task masters to perform well. And yet rashid is one of the lucky ones. Talented and taken to one of the better stables, he excels at the racing and manages to avoid major injury. Many of his friends and acquaintances will be less lucky.

This book is gritty and realistic and describes sevents in the very recent past. It will be hard to believe that in a rich and advanced country such as Dubai there was a form of slavery persisting into this decade. Worse still to think that in many places slavery of one kind or another is not something now in the past but persists still.

A book to make you think. Blind condemnation would be the wrong response though. Better to think what we can do about modern day slaves elsewhere (an application for Amnesty International was not included in the book but perhaps would have been appropriate!)

[Cobie Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has always been one of my favourite books. I found it by accident and have now read it three times. I love the characters and how they are brought to life. I did some research after reading this book for the second time and found the book was based on truth. My third time reading it was a completely different experience knowing that young children went through the same as these poor boys. But still an amazingly gripping story and a book I'll read again.

[Hannah of the Sky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-told, well-researched story that gives a heartbreaking but age appropriate portrayal of the exploitation of child camel jockeys. And it also has a realistic child protagonist with real feelings and flaws, who isn't just a punching bag for the plot or mouthpiece for the author's humanitarian cause. Good for readers 10 and up. The themes are pretty intense (kidnapping and exploitation, child labor, severe beatings, intentional starvation to stunt the boys' growth, serious injuries and death) and it's pretty incredible that the author managed to tell this story at an age appropriate level. The book may honestly be more disturbing for older readers (and for me as a mother of a young boy!) who can read between the lines and understand some of the horrors that are alluded to but not gone into depth. Set mostly in the UAE, though the protagonist is originally from Pakistan.

[Leo Margetts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never wanted to murder anyone before but during this book I wanted to. I was furious at Ghaman Khan because of the way he tricked the mother of Rashid to let him go to a place where they race camels for money and they starve children so they would be the best jockey there.

[Rohan Sudhaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book with depp characters and an interesting plot but despite trying to show the hardships of life as a camel rider the life of the riders came off as easy and fun despite reality.

[curtis :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75* - Read for my school's book club

[A Colleen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible story based on true events!

[Joshua TSANG]

Very good

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good adventure book and it was sad in some parts and teaches you how people are put in labour.