Antieau, Kim. Broken moon.

ANTIEAU, Kim. Broken moon. Simon & Schuster. 183p. c2007 1-4169-1767-5. $15.99. JSA 

This story focuses on a girl's life in Pakistan and on the little-known practice by wealthy Bedouins of kidnapping children to race desert camels, forcing them to live in internment camps until they are too big or too dead to be of further use. The fact that the novel brings attention to their plight makes it valuable on a teacher or librarian's shelf. Other than that, the plot strains credulity in that it ends happily after an improbable series of events. Fourteen-year-old Nadira was the victim of an honor rape by a group of men taking revenge for her older brother's misconduct. Her father lost his business and died. Her older brothers fled. Her mother is reduced to depending on avaricious Uncle Rubel for handouts, and Nadira, knowing she can now never marry, works as a maid in a rich woman's house. When Rubel sells Nadira's younger brother Umar into camel-jockey slavery, Nadira cuts her hair, dons boy's attire and goes on a search-and-rescue mission. She discovers the violence, hopelessness, and exploitation that takes place in the camel camps. Being a hard-working girl, she soon organizes the younger boys into a more effective labor force and devises ingenious strategies for protecting the boys in her tent from older sexual predators. Fortuitously, Nadira also has a gift with animals, and soon her camel is running faster than anyone else's. Camel jockey stardom eventually brings its sweet rewards thanks to a kindly Sheikha's intervention. Although the story deals with brutal circumstances, the narration is not graphic and, in fact, the level of storytelling is suitable for a younger audience. Myrna Marler, BYU, Laie, HI

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.

S--Recommended for senior high school students.

A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.