Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-220).

Century after century, camels and their drivers have traveled the sands between the fabled city of Timbuktu and the infamous salt mines of Taoudenni, hauling supplies from the proverbial end of the earth to an even farther-flung outpost, deep in Mali's slice of the Sahara. They return laden with tombstone-sized slabs of solid salt. While nearly all of the great trans-Saharan trade routes have disappeared, the Caravan of White Gold--so called because the salt was once literally worth its weight in gold--marches on, spared by unmatched isolation. Hearing that the caravans were threatened by the introduction of trucks, author Benanav joined a caravan, becoming one of the few Westerners to do so.

Accelerated Reader AR,UG,8.2,14.0,Quiz: 114460.

American Library Association Young Adult Library Services Association--YALSA--Best Books for Young Adults (2007); American Library Association-YA (2007); Publishers Weekly Starred Review (2006).

American Library Association Young Adult Library Services Association--YALSA--Best Books for Young Adults (2007); American Library Association-YA (2007); Publishers Weekly Starred Review (2006).

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