Walid the camel boy is banished from his tribe and the pampered Adam is separated from his family because of war. When the two boys meet, the thrilling adventure of their quest for survival begins. This book is an excellent story of how people can be bound by traumatic events, even when they have little else in common and don’t speak the same language.

This is a story about inspiring friendship and about how two kids can change the world. The main characters in the story spoke different languages and they got through tough times together, even though sometimes they didn't even know what they were saying to each other. Although the kids were from different countries, they could still be good friends. Language was not a barrier.

It was an interesting and good book to read. I would recommend it if you like fiction and adventure. I also liked it because it had a lot of suspense and action. I could barely put it down. I hope you can read it some time soon.

A interesting book that will leave you reading till the last page.

"Camel Rider" looks to be a great new book (I read the first chapter already) set in a fictional town in the Middle East. It is about an Australian and an Arab boy who, after a political incident, have to fend for themselves in the mountains with no common language. The main points of this book are friendship and mutual respect when you put yourself on the line with only trust. From what we could learn from the editor Judy O'Malley, the author saw that children tend to get past things like political struggles quickly, to achieve friendship and peace.

In the midst of a short war in a country on the Arab peninsula, 12-year-old Adam, an Australian expatriate who does not want to return home, and Walid, a camel rider from Bangladesh, manage to elude Walid's former employers and survive in the harsh desert, although they lack a common language or culture. Adam's mother has gone home to Australia, and the boy is to follow the next day when his dad, a pilot, arrives from a trip. When the bombs begin to fall, he runs away from neighbors who attempt to take him across the border to safety. Walid, who had been sold by his mother, who hoped for something better for him, was left tied up in the mountains after accidentally causing the death of a camel. The alternating first-person voices, set off typographically, reveal the depth of the boys' cultural differences and their growing ability to communicate, understand, and respect one another. The harshness of the desert is clear, as is Adam's ignorance and unpreparedness. Readers who may first identify with the fun-loving Adam will come to appreciate Walid's skills and determination, and may learn something about Muslim ways in the process. The suspense is sustained and the wildly improbable happy ending is very satisfying. Some readers may not appreciate the number of times "acting like a girl" is a derogatory phrase, but this is a solid survival adventure.

This riveting survival tale set in the Arabian Gulf--author Mason's first novel--has two boys from very different cultures trying to find their way out of the desert wilderness. Adam is an Australian boy living with his family in the (fictional) Middle Eastern city of Abudai. Both of his parents are away when war breaks outside his compound. Adam manages to escape with neighbors, but he flees his rescuers, attempting to retrieve his dog. Meanwhile, an Arab boy sold into slavery to become a camel rider has been left to die in the mountains by cruel masters displeased with his rebellious behavior ("Once I had another name. But only in my dreams now I am remembering my life in my home country.... Now I answer to Walid, which means only 'boy'"). The paths of the two boys inevitably cross: though they do not speak the same language, they learn to rely on each other to find food and shelter and to ward off enemies as they travel back to civilization. Some plot details seem scripted, such as when a milking goat suddenly appears as the boys are on the brink of starvation and when Walid's master gets hold of Adam's cell phone and learns there is a reward for the boy's recovery. Nonetheless, teens will stay on the edge of their seats to find out how and when Adam and Walid will reunite with their loved ones.

First-novelist Mason makes an auspicious debut with this Australian import about two boys from disparate cultures who from a bond under harrowing circumstances. Twelve-year-old Australian Adam, and his parents live in a housing compound for foreigners in a fictional Middle-Eastern country. When war breaks out suddenly, Adam is alone and must evacuate with neighbors. He eludes them in a desperate effort to rescue his dog. Meanwhile, young "camel rider," or jockey, Walid is trussed and left to die in the mountains by his abusive owners. How these two find each other and connect, making their way to safety despite daunting linguistic and cultural barriers and the forbidding desert and deadly heat, makes for a fast-paced, exciting read. The boys' respective dialogue and musings are initially defined by alternately told chapters and changes in fonts. Once they meet, subsequent chapters intersperse these fonts, emphasizing their misunderstanding of each other, sometimes to comical effect. Immediacy is achieved with first-person, present-tense narration. Though the ending is pat and some characters aren't well defined, there's more than enough here to sustain interest and to open readers' eyes to a way of life they'll hardly believe actually exists.

Though a little slow to start, once this story hits the road, the action is non-stop. The plot: Adam, an eleven-year-old Australian boy, manages to cut himself loose from family travel plans in the ex-patriot compound of a fictional Arabian oil sheikhdom. At the same time, a Bangladeshi boy, Walid, sold into slavery as a camel jockey, offends his master. The master binds Walid hand and foot and leaves him to die in a mountainside cave. That’s when the war begins. The two boys meet and their great escape (and recapture and escape and recapture and escape) proceeds. The brilliant thing about the book is that Adam knows no Bengali and only a handful of Arabic words. Walid knows no English and only a bit of Arabic. Both boys are filled with prejudice against each other’s ethnic groups. Yet they manage to work through one misunderstood action after another, survive in in extreme conditions, and high five one another with big grins when they reach safety and security at last.

Camel Rider by Prue Mason is a timely story about two boys from vastly different cultures.

Adam is Australian, living with his family, in a compound, in the Middle East. His comfortable expatriate existence is filled with family and friends. His days are a mixture of school, play and surfing.

Walid is a poor boy from Bangladesh who, after the death of his father, moves to Abudai with his mother. His mother finds work as a maid and Walid is sold to the 'dalals' (traders) who promise his mother to care and educate him. In reality, he is maltreated and trained to be a camel rider. His days begin before dawn, where he has to fetch the water, prepare the morning meal for his masters, and work till bedtime.

The two boys' destinies are joined when war breaks out in Abudai, and they become stranded in the dessert. Despite language barriers, innate prejudices, and misunderstandings, the two boys overcome significant obstacles, and forge an alliance that becomes a friendship. Camel Rider is a fast-moving story, with wonderful characters and realistic dialogue.

Prue Mason's Camel Rider is a great story for anyone from 9 to 15. When you read the book, it seems as if Walid and Adam are actually talking to you. The book seems like any thirteen year-old's diary from the Arabian Gulf. It's great how two boys from two different worlds meet and befriend each other in a desperate situation in the middle of the desert. They work together to find how to get back to Abudai, the city Adam lived in before it was bombed. It is very interesting how they communicate without words. I certainly hope there is a sequel to this one of a kind novel.

How do two 13-year-old boys survive in an Arabian desert with almost no water or food and no common language? With adventure, pluck, and lots of high-fives! Both boys are expatriates living in the fictional Arab city of Abudai. Adam is from Australia; Emir came from Bangladesh. Emir's mother trusts two Arabs who promise to provide schooling for him, but instead they treat him cruelly and force him to ride camels in races. After the city is bombed, Adam tries to return to Abudai via the desert. Emir was dumped in the desert because he caused the death of a camel. The boys find each other and soon learn to communicate and survive the scorching heat. Over the three-day adventure they are captured by the two Arabs who want to cash in on the ransom Adam's parents have advertised. Once back in the city, the boys make their final excape and are reunited with their families. This new author vividly portrays life as an expatriate in an Arab country, from the privileged side and the immigrant side. This is a powerful story of survival and resourcefulness while discovering a friendship that transcends international boundaries. Highly Recommended.

This story, told in the alternating voices of the two protagonists, is about a clash of cultures and beliefs and what happens when the two must depend on each other to escape a dire situation. The two boys--Adam and Walid--know nothing of the other boy's culture and, most significantly for the plot, the other's language. Adam is a privileged Australian ex-pat living comfortably in Abudai, a large Middle Eastern city. He wants nothing more than to play or go surfing with his mates who also live in his multi-national ex-pat community. Adam has learned very little Arabic or anything else about the native people or the place in which he has lived for almost six years. He holds many of the deep-seated stereotypes about Arabs and Islam that he acquired from the adults in his community. Walid is an ex-pat from Bangladesh. He has had none of the privileges afforded Adam. He works as a camel boy for two cruel men, Old Goat and Breath of Dog, in order to support his mother. When one of the camels escapes after Walid has loosened its hobble, Walid is beaten seneseless, bound with rope, and then abandoned in a small cave in the desert. When a rogue leader in a neighboring country attacks Abudai, Adam has to evacuate the compound with his neighbors. In a rash decision, Adam decides to run away from his neighbors to return home to save his dog. He realizes his mistake almost immediately when the hot desert sun becomes unbearable. He stumbles along until he finds Walid, still bound and groggy from the beating he received from his masters. Neither boy can speak the other's language, but to survive, they must learn to get along, be resourceful, and solve the many problems that confront them as they try to get back to Abudai. Although the last few chapters are predictable and the ending cliched, the tale is engrossing. First-time novelist Prue Mason has written a story that shows how, with ingenuity and a little luck, children can bridge the cultural divides that adults needlessly create. DLT

This extraordinary tale of endurance and survival beautifully illustrates how a true friendship can develop in a seemingly impossible situation. Once into this novel, the reader won't be able to set it down until it's finished.

Australian Adam and Bangladeshi Walid find themselves stranded in the desert near the fictional city of Abudai and must join forces to survive without water, food, or a common language. Told from both boys' points of view, Mason's story vividly portrays the enormous lifestyle differences between rich and poor in the Middle East.

If you have no choice except to be a slave, would you want to be a camel rider? Sounds scary to me, but Walid enjoys camels and has a special relationship with one in particular.

This book was published by Charlesbridge, and is a trade paperback that is currently available in your local bookstore.

Adam comes from a well-to-family who lives in a compound in the Middle East. They are from Australia, but his father is flying for the Abudai Airlines, so they have moved. He has managed to hide his passport in his father's luggage so he can't return to Australia with his mother. His mother is very angry and leaves him home alone one day, with the servant. His father will be back the next day.

But Adam has an adventure planned. A last tour of the desert before he returns home. Not a bad plan, but plans change...

When the nearby city is bombed, he has to evacuate the city with neighbors, leaving his dog behind. He makes up his mind he will escape and go back after Tara, his dog.

In the meantime, Walid's favorite camel gets spooked and breaks her leg. His master loses not only the camel, but the baby she was carrying. He wants to kill Walid, but that would be too fast of a death for the boy. So he ties up his hands and legs and dumps him a cave in the desert to starve and die of dehydration.

The lives of these two boys converge by accident. Each one has opinions of the other's race and religious beliefs, and neither one has any respect for the other. Nor can they communicate by language, neither one understands the other.

Ms. Mason does an excellent job of depicting how the two begin trying to communicate, how each learns a few words of the opposite language, how they learn what skills each has (or doesn't) and how they eventually begin to trust each other again.

They have many more adventures before the story ends. Life is hard, people are trying to kill them, and they have no food or water. But they keep trying to move back to the compound and the trials and tribulations are authentic.

I enjoyed the action and learned some things about the Middle East. I'd recommend this book for young adults age 12+. The world is a big place, visit a piece of it by reading this book.