Camel Crazy: A Quest for Miracles in the Mysterious World of Camels - Softcover

Christina Adams, award-winning author of the memoir A Real Boy, is a journalist and speaks on autism, writing, culture, and camels. Her work has been featured by National Public Radio, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Gulf News, Dubai One, OZY, WebMD, Tata SKY TV, Global Advances in Health and Medicine, and more. She lives in Orange County, California.

“[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 that Christina Adams’s observations of medical signs and symptoms are on par with a neurologist’s clinical skills. Remarkable in her steadfast determination to uncover an ancient, unfamiliar food that has truly healing powers for people with autism, Adams also explores the many fascinating ways that camels and humans interact in the world. Camel Crazy is an excellent introduction to the background and future promise of camels and their milk. The healing and immune-modulating power of camel milk in people with autism is bona fide and realistic. Camel milk can be useful in autism and in medical conditions that mimic autistic behavior. The healing power of camel milk alters the immunity tied to human pH balance and reduces inflammation, so that correct nutrients, rather than abnormal ones, can enter the system and feed the brain. Both her research and mine show that the safety profile is very high.”
— Caroline Choan, MD, Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

“Christina Adams sweeps up the reader on her colorful, entertaining, and very personal quest to find out more about camels — and the exotic milk that proved so beneficial for her son and other autistic children. Her wonderful book takes us on fascinating travels, encounters, and discoveries, winding up with a useful trove of practical advice in the Appendix.”
— Nancy Jones Abeiderrahmane, founder of Tiviski and winner of the ROLEX Award for Enterprise

“If you think you know everything, then you haven’t read Christina Adams’s page-turning memoir about her quest for camel milk to help her son’s autism. It’s part the story of one mother’s determination to help her son and part travel narrative, plus much camel lore. Adams has woven an incredible tapestry that will fascinate you with its science and touch you with its story. Reminiscent of John Vaillant’s wonderful nonfiction book The Tiger, Camel Crazy will teach you things you never imagined and move you to tears.”
— Mary Morris, author of Gateway to the Moon and All the Way to the Tigers (forthcoming)

“Christina Adams has a powerful, passionate, and convincing story to tell. Myself, I was looking for a camel milk source by page 38.”
— Randy Fertel, PhD, author of The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak and cofounder of the Edible Schoolyard, New Orleans

“Camel Crazy relates an extraordinary story and captures how camels represent freedom to pastoralists like me. This book’s camel wisdom rings true and will help the humble animals who in turn sustain millions of pastoralists globally.”
— Roba B. Jilo, camel herder and member of the Karrayyu-Oromo tribe of Ethiopia

“For me, as both a parent and self-advocate for autism spectrum disorder, seeing the development of science-based natural resources to increase functionality for people with autism is outstanding. Christina Adams has been an amazing international leader in finding solutions that geneticists are only now starting to understand. The trailblazing work she describes in this book has led to significant multidisciplinary scientific studies.”
— Anne Delery McWhorter, autistic advocate and owner of Quiet Calm LLC

“Camel milk played, and continues to play, a huge role in our son Jack’s nutrition. Our family is grateful to those like Christina Adams, who are forging a new path for those who need it most. Switching Jack to camel milk has been the single most beneficial thing we have done for our very picky eater.”
— The Harris Family, White Oak Pastures

“Combining a mother’s love with the skill of a scientist and the finesse of a diplomatic ambassador, Christina Adams glides through international and cultural barriers with the realization that we are all part of a global village. In tirelessly striving to resolve her son’s challenges, Adams expertly fits together several pieces of the puzzle in making fulfilling and productive lives for people on the autism spectrum more the rule rather than the exception.”
— Stephen M. Shore, EdD, person with autism, author of Beyond the Wall, professor of special education at Adelphi University, and board member of Autism Speaks