The Camel Bookmobile

by Masha Hamilton

  Knowing this, Fi sat under the acacia tree while she still could. She stared from the note with Matani’s handwriting to the plot of ground that so recently had been Mididima, and back again. “I was here,” she said aloud. And then she couldn’t speak for a moment; her throat constricted as Matani’s fresh water dampened her cheeks before evaporating in the merciless, thirsty air.

  Acknowledgments

  To early and generous readers Dan Gilmore, Arra Hamilton, Susan Ito, David Orr, Jennifer Stewart, Nancy Wall, and Amanda Eyre Ward for their valuable suggestions.

  To my editor, Claire Wachtel, for her keen eye and fierce dedication.

  To my incomparable agent, Marly Rusoff, and her team for believing in this story from its inception, for shepherding it forward each step of the way, and for…well, just about everything.

  To all the exceptional librarians who have infused me from childhood with their passion for reading.

  To Rupert and Arra Hamilton, for unwavering love and encouragement, for supporting the unconventional, and for always making me think I could do it, whatever “it” was at the moment.

  To Briana, for first telling me about the Camel Library.

  And to David, Briana, Cheney, and Daylon for pausing to listen to ragged drafts of this story as it unfolded, for forgiving me the chores undone and meals uncooked because I was writing, and for filling my days with love and meaning.

  Thank you.

  About the Author

  A journalist who has worked for NBC Mutual Radio, the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, and other well-known news organizations, MASHA HAMILTON is the author of The Distance Between Us and Staircase of a Thousand Steps. She lives with her family in New York City.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  ALSO BY MASHA HAMILTON

  Staircase of a Thousand Steps

  The Distance Between Us

  Credits

  Cover design by Mary Schuck

  Cover photographs by Dougal Waters/Getty Images and Staffan Widstrand

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  THE CAMEL BOOKMOBILE. Copyright © 2007 by Masha Hamilton. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub Edition © FEBRUARY 2008 ISBN: 9780061871498

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