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A Girl Named Disaster (平装)
by Nancy Farmer
| Category:
Spirit, Story, Award-winning books, Ages 9-12, Children's book |
| Market price: ¥ 98.00
MSL price:
¥ 88.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
In Stock |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
While fleeing from Mozambique to Zimbabwe to escape an unwanted marriage, Nhamo, an eleven-year-old Shona girl, struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 5 items |
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Just Michelle (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
On the face of it, the story is simple: a 12-year old girl named Nhamo, who has spent much of her life feeling unloved, is suddenly cast out of her rural African village and forced to survive alone in the wild. Of course, what should be a two day trip up Mozambique's Musengezi River to the Zimbabwe border takes a year, as Nhamo becomes lost and soon encounters wild animals, mysterious islands, and battles sickness and starvation?
The complexity of the story lies in the development of Nhamo's beautiful character, as it is Nhamo and Nhamo alone whom we accompany on her solitary, year-long journey. Over this year, readers become Nhamo, and despite a total lack of human contact, we are never lonely. Readers learn, like the ever-resourceful Nhamo, to find a home and family in our surroundings no matter whom or what they may be: a group of hippos blocking the river passage, the mythical njuzu sea snakes, or the spirit of old Crocodile Guts whose boat she has stolen for her journey. Through all of it, Nhamo is funny, full of life, and most of all, resilient.
Nancy Farmer's sophisticated and beautifully written novel offers a glimpse into the daily life of the Shona tribe, including information about their cultural traditions, and the powerful superstitions that led them to send Nhamo away. With excellent pacing and a hefty dose of suspense, A Girl Named Disaster is recommended to all audiences. This story is an unforgettable journey.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
"The journey will be the hardest thing you'll ever do, but it will be worth it", her grandmother said. When a Shona girl named Nhamo is forced into an arranged marriage to save her village in Southern Africa, her grandmother thinks the opposite. Grandmother tells her to runaway from Mozambique to Zimbabwe, to find her father and be safe. After going countless days all alone on a lake she comes across an inhabited island with baboons. After resting, she finds Zimbabwe and a few other friends. A scary part in the book is when Nhamo gets possessed by a witch. That is part of the rising action and leads to the conclusion.
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A kid (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Nhamo and Ambuya (Nhamo's grandmother), Mastiva and Nhamo mother are the main characters in this book. To describe Nhamo, she was quiet and obedient. She got bossed around by her aunt and other women in the village. Most of the work around the village was done by Nhamo with rarely any help. She liked hiding away and not being found when her aunt sent her to get wood. As Nhamo goes on to Zimbabwe, she gains muscle and becomes brave. Ambuya is a strong, wise village elder. Nhamo is one of Ambuya's favorites. Ambuya enjoys telling folk tales and is good at giving advice. Mastiva is Nhamo's cousin and gets to sit all day and do nothing while Nhamo has to do all the work. The reason why Mastiva doesn't have to do work is because Mastiva's mother holds a grudge at Nhamo's Mother who is dead. Nhamo is important to this story because she's the strongest. She is the main character because she goes through the most and learns very quickly.
Yes, I would recommend this book to girls age 12-16, because I learned a lot from it. It made me think about what I would do in Nhamo' situation. I liked the adventure in it because I was never sure what will happen next. If you read this book, you'll learn a lot about Shona culture and many of its words. You'll love this fiction book because it has many unexpected, funny and scary moments throughout Nhamo's voyage. I rate this book 5 stars!
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Billy (MSL quote), Chicago, IL
<2006-12-27 00:00>
I read this book out of curiosity; having read the author's other outstanding books such as House of the Scorpion and The Sea of Trolls. I must say that I'm truly enchanted and my perspective with other culture was enriched upon finishing the book. It is a commitment to read the said novel; one must be willing to explore Zimbabwe's and Mozambique's folklore and ethnography. But with the craftsmanship of Nancy Farmer's storytelling, reading the book will not be a chore. And it's not "cheap thrill" too. I'm glad, authors like Farmer really do the task of painstaking research. Now I know her style/poetics-(1) use of folklore like songs, epics, tales, superstitions, (2) re-creating a cosmology, (3) use of mythic/physical/metaphorical journey to highlight the hero's/ heroine's coming-of-age, (4) heroism of the character like exploring his or her talents and capabilities; the search for his/her roots; and the struggle for a better situation in a fictional/ metaphorical society; (5) use of short but vivid chapters to make the seemingly epic novel readable for young readers. Nancy Farmer respects the kids by not "writing down" to them. Also, with her splendid prose, she truly loved her craft and her audience. Bravo! |
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A kid (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
The Girl Named Disaster is an adventurous interesting and hard-to-put-down kind of book by Nancy Farmer. I like this book because it was sort of scary, surprising and cool. If you like these kinds of books, this book is perfect for you. This book is about a girl named Nhambo who has to travel to Zimbabwe under her grandmother's rules so she can visit her father. She is traveling in a tiny rowboat that was a fisher's in her village. Now that the fisher is dead, Nhambo uses his rowboat. Her mother was eaten by a leopard and her father is the only living relative..... or at least she thinks so. This book is a survival fiction because she has to survive many dangers on her journey. This author won two awards for this book. Hope you like it! |
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1 Total 1 pages 5 items |
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