In this page-turning odyssey, a mother on a mission travels the globe — from Bedouin camps in the Middle East to Amish farms in Pennsylvania to camel-herder villages in India — to obtain camel milk, which dramatically helps her son’s autism symptoms. Chronicling bureaucratic roadblocks, adventure-filled detours, and Christina Adams’s love-fueled determination, Camel Crazy explores why camels are cherished as family members and hailed as healers. Adams’s work uncovers studies of camel milk for possible treatment of autism, allergies, diabetes, and immune dysfunction, as well as ancient traditions of healing. But the most fascinating aspect of Adams’s discoveries is the gentle-eyed, mischievous camels themselves. Huge and often unpredictable, they are amazingly intelligent and adaptable. This moving and rollicking ode to “camel people” and the creatures they adore reveals the ways camels touch lives around the world. Includes users’ and buyers’ guides to camel’s milk “[A] loving and appealing memoir.” — Booklist “For ages, these strong and beautiful beasts have been venerated for their courage, stamina, intelligence, and the healing powers of their milk. These fascinating and important pages detail Christina Adams’s personal journey of discovery that the camel herders were right. Her excellent book makes the case for camel milk’s medicinal value and for treating camels with the respect, compassion, and even reverence that they deserve from humans.” — Sy Montgomery, author of the National Book Award Finalist The Soul of an Octopus “As a self-professed ‘beauty hunter,’ I felt like I found the beauty-hunting bible within these pages. This is a book for anyone who believes in the power of belief, science, and love. Combining these things, Christina Adams has created a magical story that feels part memoir, part fairy tale, pure heart. I want everyone I know to read this book to be reminded how one woman can change the world by following her own path.” — Jennifer Pastiloff, bestselling author of On Being Human: A Memoir of Waking Up, Living Real, and Listening Hard “In her fascinating book Camel Crazy , Christina Adams describes her quest to help her son, which is both heroic and an important reminder of the arrogance embedded in the prevailing wisdom of Western medicine and modern industrial life. We recklessly toss out important traditional knowledge, remove direct contact with the animals — like camels — who have shaped human civilization, and belittle the important steps to regain control over our lives by searching for answers in unexpected places. Camel Crazy is a joy to read and should inspire those of us who feel powerless in the face of industrialized life. Biodiversity matters. Animals matter. And it matters to enter into a space in which we consider possibilities that otherwise would seem impossible.” — Richard McCarthy, executive director, Slow Food International “Christina Adams’s writing and work are important to many indigenous cultures around the world, like my own nomadic tribe, the Tuareg camel herders. We need protecting.” — Sidi Amar, nomad, camel handler, and Tuareg cultural protector, Sahara Desert, Niger “Her firsthand experience with the benefits of camel milk turned Christina Adams into an expert on its therapeutic potential and an explorer of the camel communities around the globe. Her personal story is a testimony of a determined, intelligent woman whose ability to think outside the box enabled her to go beyond conventional medical boundaries to overcome her child’s challenges.” — Amnon Gonenne, PhD, scientist, researcher, and biotechnology executive “A story as wondrous as a fantastic novel, full of amazing moments. This is an exploration fueled by love.” — Anita Hughes, author of California Summer: A Novel “Christina Adams’s brave, inspiring, and deeply exciting narrative is about her search for help for her son, which she found in the most unlikely of places — the milk of camels. She is the best kind of tour guide, propelling her intimate narrative through the Middle East to Amish country to a Manhattan doctor, and Adams does it all with such an infectious sense of wonder, a love of facts, and an insistence to get at the truth that I’d follow her anywhere. As she falls more and more in love with camels, so do we. This is a book that can change the world.” — Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Is This Tomorrow “Mesmerizing. Far more than an enchanting trip through camel lore and a look at the biology of this fascinating mammal, Camel Crazy offers a compelling description of how its milk quieted her young son’s autism symptoms. Just as I was awaiting a scientific explanation, there it was, eloquent and exciting. Camels, and their milk, are indeed special.” — Ricki Lewis, PhD, author of The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It “As a neurologist, I can say t