Masha Hamilton

I'm not quite sure how to feel about them. I was intrigued by the concept of a mobile library and its impacts but it wasn't quite what I was hoping for. I think a large part of this was the inclusion of the American librarian since it gave a bit of a white saviour feel to the book, which I didn't enjoy all that much. I think it would maybe have been stronger had it been written by a local about a local librarian running such a project. There were maybe also a few too many perspectives for the length of the book, meaning the characters could have been more fleshed out.… (més)

[This is a review I wrote in 2009]

**A touching and inspiring novel**

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of books being introduced to a rural nomadic village settlement in northern Kenya for the very first time. Some residents have never even held a book in their hands before.

Fi Sweeney is thirty-six and is a librarian in Brooklyn. She feels the need to do something worthwhile and needs a change of scene, so applies for a project taking literacy to the African bush - with the Camel Bookmobile. One particular place that she visits quickly becomes a favourite with Fi. Every fortnight the camels are loaded (under much duress!) and she and her opinionated boss, Mr. Abasi take the library to a small far-away settlement called Mididima. The library event becomes an exciting occasion in Mididima even for those who haven't yet the ability to read the books. For a few of the residents it's hoped that the bookmobile might eventually become the route into another world, a life in a bigger town, city, or even Nairobi. With the early signs of drought becoming apparent around the village a way into a different, even better, life becomes an attractive option.

There's one condition to the fortnightly arrival of the Bookmobile, and that is that every book taken out must be returned at each visit... otherwise the visits will cease altogether.... Can anyone persuade Scar Boy to give up the books that he has borrowed....?

A story touched with insight and humanity, together with a real appreciation of customs and everday life of rural Africa, not to mention humour (some of the book titles delivered to Mididima are sadly, but hilariously, unsuited to the African bush!). The experience of the Bookmobile proves something of a spiritual journey for Fi, a coming-of-age journey for a couple of Mididima's young residents, a levelling and humanising experience for Mr Abasi, and comes to take on a different meaning for many of the people of Mididima. Recommended.… (més)