About this title: This story of adventure, survival, inner strength, and family heritage introduces readers to life among the Shona people of Africa. Although Nhamo is only 11 years old, she's already had a very difficult life. Nhamo's father abandoned her when she was a baby, and later, her mother was killed by a leopard. Since that time, Nhamo has lived with her stern but loving grandmother, Ambuya, and the family of her bitter aunt Chipo. When Nhamo discovers that she is going to be forced to marry a cruel man who already has three wives, she and her grandmother enact a daring plan that will help Nhamo ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Orchard Books (NY)
Date Published: 10/1996
ISBN-13:9780531088890ISBN:0531088898
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Library binding. Cloth over boards. Ex-Library expected imperfections. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Puffin Books
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780140386356ISBN:0140386351
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover shows wear at corners and along spine with creases, pages tanned, unmarked. Audience: Young adult. read more
Edition: Paperback "Troll Special Edition".
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Orchard
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780531095393ISBN:0531095398
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Cover shows minor wear with taped corner tear on back, spine uncreased; tanned pages are unmarked. Audience: Young adult read more
Description: Very Good. 0141311843 Paperback, Condition: Very Good; this book is in very good condition with light curve to the spine / light reading creases to the covers. read more
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Puffin, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780140386356ISBN:0140386351
Description: Very Good. 0140386351 Previously read trade paperback book in very good condition, some very minor shelf wear, no rips or tears. 445001390 _ read more
Description: Acceptable in Acceptable jacket. Ex-library. Used hardcover with dust jacket. Both are in good condition with some signs of wear to the dust jacket. read more
"Coming of Age/Family Identity/Traditional African Mythologies
Nancy Farmer weaves us another beautiful story set in both the mythological and tangible Africa. Nhamo, who is named for the disaster caused by her mother's pregnancy, faces great danger when she offered up in marriage to a cruel man in order to appease an epidemic which has swept her village. However, with the aid of her grandmother, she escapes, and sets out on a journey to discover her identity and her father's family in Zimbabwe. A classic journey tale, we follow Nhamo as she faces trials, frustrations, and discouragements, until in the end she comes to a better understanding of who she is in all senses of the word. A bit of an epic, the book does take a little longer to read, but the characters are likeable and fascinating. However, the prose isn't really as good as some of Farmer's other books, even if the mythologies are more real, and some of the poetry absolutely fantastic. Definitely a girl's book, and probably not for teens older than about 15."
"Reminiscent of Island of the Blue Dolphins, but doesn't quite have the same impact. I wanted to like it more than I did. The middle dragged and her journey seemed tedious. On the other hand, I did enjoy Nhamo's storytelling. I just wish the editor had forced the author to tighten it up in the middle."
"Really great. Girls- almost a must read. Boys- read with caution or don't read. Includes girls growing up. Tells about one girl's amazing journey. Learning, trying to adapt, and trying to survive are included, as well as a touching spiritual story."
""I am she who lifts mountains When she goes to hunt Who wears a mamba for a headband And a lion for a belt Beware! I swallow elephants whole And pick my teeth with rhinoceros horns Let them hear my words! Nhamo is coming And her hunger is great."
-Nhamo, "A Girl Named Disaster", P. 101
"(P)eople are like plants. Some shoot up like weeds, and some are slow like fruit trees. In the end, the fruit trees are worth more."
-Ambuya, "A Girl Named Disaster, P. 21
I would give three and a half stars to "A Girl Named Disaster". There are few authors out there who are capable of writing an engrossing, gripping young adult novel with the emotion and intensity that always marks the stories of Nancy Farmer. "A Girl named Disaster" finds its perfect balance as a coming-of-age story, a loving testament to the power and richness of the Shona people and their beliefs, and as a nail-biting suspense tale about a girl out on her own at the age of eleven, with seemingly no one who cares about her in existence anymore and nothing but a wan hope for a faraway possible future as her guide.
"Rather, there was a space between one person and the next. It was as though a necklace had come apart and each bead rolled separately across the floor. The village had broken somewhere deep inside..."
-A Girl Named Disaster, P. 41
"Spirits were thin fare, compared to people. They didn't breathe comfortingly in the middle of the night, and they couldn't hold her in their arms".
-A Girl Named Disaster, P. 139
The reader who picks up this book will find himself taken very quickly into the world of tribal Africa and all of its many, varied customs. Some of these customs will fascinate the reader, others of them will seem offensive or even heartless and cruel to the American mind, but all of them are sure to be eye opening, and they serve perfectly to advance the story and allow us to see the entire person that makes up our protagonist, Nhamo. It is perhaps in this area that Nancy Farmer succeeds most magnificently, creating a character that we are given access to know as well (or better) than we could know any real human being who stood before us, and with whom we could converse. Nhamo, herself, is the mark of a master story teller, a writer who is able to make events that are as far away from the lives of most of her readers as could possibly be keep a sense of raw immediacy about them. Ultimately, the reason that I see for the marvelous artistic success of "A Girl Named Disaster" is the resounding knowledge of humanness that Nancy Farmer has, and the way that she is able to relay it through her characters so gracefully, and in ways that take us by surprise and remind us once again of just what it means to be human. The thoughts and feelings of Nhamo will echo deeply in the soul of any person, connecting with one's own personal emptiness and loneliness and need for love to make the story of Nhamo truly as powerful as it is. In the end, this is what I see as the "secret" of Nancy Farmer's success, and I feel honored to be allowed to make the journey alongside Nhamo.
"(E)ven the best bowl of porridge has a few weevils in it."
-A Girl Named Disaster, P. 288
"The paths of the body are long, but the paths of the spirit are short."
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