Camel Rider is, according to the Penguin press release, the story of a young American boy living in the Middle East. When war breaks out, the release goes on, the boy is left behind as his family flees to safety. He befriends a young Arab boy, who has been kidnapped and taken to the desert as a camel jockey. Actually, no. Camel Rider is the story of a young Australian boy, Adam, living in the Middle East. When the city is invaded, his family does not flee. His father, a pilot, is away on a four-day trip (with Adam’s passport tucked unknowingly in his flight bag); his mother is on her way to Melbourne alone simply because, without a passport, Adam is unable to travel with her. In the desert, Adam meets a young Bangladeshi boy, who has not been kidnapped but rather sold to slave traders. Should it matter that a press release has it so wrong? I think it does.

Fortunately Camel Rider, the novel, is a much better read than its press release. Set in the fictitious city of Abudai in the Arabian Gulf, the adventure begins when twelve-year­ old Adam leaves the safety of a convoy heading to the border and sets off into the desert, determined to make his way home to rescue the dog he was forced to leave behind during the evacuation. Lost and dazed, he meets Walid, who has been left for dead in the desert by his cruel, but wonderfully named, masters Old Goat and Breath of Dog.