Ghost Boys — Shenaaz Nanji

Fiction. Young Adult. Teen fiction. Ages 12+. Finalist for the 2018 SYRCA Snow Willow Award Finalist. Fifteen-year-old Munna lives with his Ma and sisters in a small town in India. Determined to end his family's misfortunes, he is lured into a dream job in the Middle East, only to be sold. He must work at the Sheikh's camel farm in the desert and train young boys as jockeys in camel races. The boys, smuggled from poor countries, have lost their families and homes. Munna must starve these boys so that they remain light on the camels' backs, and he must win the Gold Sword race for the Sheikh. In despair, he realizes that he is trapped and there is no escape.