Rating: 
Summary: A Girl Named Disaster
Review: In the book, A Girl Named Disaster, there were certain parts of the setting that were hard to believe. For example, the author said that the story was supposed to take place sometime in the 1980s. It1s kind of hard to believe that because Nhamo ,the main character, knows nothing about the customs of most normal day women of that time, or technology. Another thing is that in the 1980s people were wearing clothes, but Nhamo and the other people in her village wore little cloths that rapped around their bodies. People in Nhamo's village had never even heard of a radio, now that's weird. And last, no one even had horses or donkeys, they just walked everywhere. I think that this was a very unrealistic book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: This book is about a girl named Nhamo. She is brought up some where in Africa. Her mother was killed by a leopard when she was real young. She was to be married to this man who she didn't like. Her grandmother gave her a chose to stay or to leave. Then she took a long journey. I liked this book because it was real interesting and a great book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: An ultimate adventure of trial and survival.
Review: This is an outstanding story of a young girl's odyssey. Nhamois a realistic African Cinderella. An orphan, she lives with hercousins, and does most of the dirty work. The only adult in her littleback-woods village that loves her is her grandmother. Smart and tough, Nhamo gives her bullying aunts plenty of trouble. But after a terrible bout of cholera, the entire village's troubles are blamed on Nhamo. In a short time, Nhamo discovers some very ugly truths about her family, and is about to be married to a diseased and evil older man. With the encouragement of her grandmother, Nhamo decides to run away. She has no idea of what she will face on the journey! During her long search for the Zimbabwe border and her father's family, Nhamo deals with starvation, dehydration, and prolonged solitude. Her courage and positive outlook are challenged again and again, but she is a fighter! This is a wonderful story for any girl. Sick of boys doing all the good stuff in the books? Nhamo does everything she must. She finds food, builds shelters and traps, makes weapons, and faces predators. Ultimately she finds a haven. This book is much more serious than Farmer's wonderful "The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm". Where that book was loaded with whimsy and yearning, this one carries desperation. But it is not devoid of humor. The antics of the baboon troop, and the interactions among the folks at Efifi are hilarious! Farmer has an absolutely magic touch. This book is also a wonderful immersion in the ways of another part of the world. It is an edifying little slice of a totally different culture. It will broaden the worldview of most any reader. A wonderfully good read.
Rating:
Summary: Coming of Age: a Shona Girl
Review: This book is great for advanced 6th grade and up. It's a coming of age story set in the early 1980's in MOzambique and Zimbabwe. Doomed to marry her family's enemy, Nhamo sets off for Zimbabwe determined to find her father, who she has never met. The trip is supposed to take only 2 days, but last longer. Her journey not only is one of strength (young girls can be inspired by Nhamo), but spiritual (Nhamo is Shona) as well. She also moves from the "old" world into the "new" when she leaves her rural Mozambique village and eventually finds her way to an urban city in Zimbabwe. Not only is this a fascinating story, but I highly recommend it for social/cultural studies as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Nhamo's brave spirit enlightens a wonderful story!
Review: Nhamo is a strong, brave, and determined young woman who livesin a tribe in Africa. Forced to marry an older man to save her relatives, Nhamo flees from her village. Her journey is very dangerous, as she tries to survive the rivers, animals, and great spirits. Without anyone to talk to Nhamo talks to a sacred picture from an old magazine, pretending that it is her mother, who was killed by a lepoard many years ago. It keeps her company,along with the spirits of the water and the spirit an old man who used to live in her village named Crocodile Guts. Nhamo travels down many rivers encountering many obstacles, as she tries to reach her only hope, her father in Zimbabwae. When Nhamo becomes lost in a storm, she is washed upon an island shore, with her boat severly damaged, where she must learn how to survive for many months while sharing the island with wild baboons. Still she is in search of her father in Zimbabwae, but struggles to reach him ,fearing that she'll never make it to Zimbabwae alive. As you read about Nhamo's struggles and triumphs in this wonderful story, you begin to feel for her and begin to realize how hard she works and how african women were treated. She becomes a real woman, realizing that life isn't always easy and isn't always what you plan. The african tales told in this book by Nhamo and her Grandmother are very interesting and have many morals intertwined in them. Nhamo shows strength and courage, and demonstrates that you must never give up no matter what the circumstances may be. There are a number of surprises and twists in this book. Although the story is very interesting, it did slow down throughout the middle, but gave a ton of descriptive detail. Nancy Farmer includes African words in the text to provide a learning experience and discovery for all ages. An African dictionary and brief history of African life is included in the back, which is extremely interesting and makes the book seem very real. It is researched very well, and is truely an African American story, that one should read. I suggest that you try reading at least 20-30 pgs of the book and decide if you like it. It is quite confusing in the begining, however the pace speeds up and leads into an adventure that all will enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Struggle on the river
Review: Nhamo is a young woman who lives in a village with her relatives in Africa. When she is being forced to marry a cruel man who already has three wives to save her relatives she flees on the river to Zimbabwe. During her journey she ocmes to quite a few obstacles such as crocodiles and hippos, she is also starving, and her boat cracks when she hit a boulder. These things prevent her from reaching Zimbabwe for quite some time. Nhamo sees a village up ahead, she is thrilled because she has not seen a person for sch a long time on the river. I enjoyed this novel because of the details the author put in although in some parts it kind of drags on in some parts. Other wise this book is truly wonderful. I also enjoy this book because of how every turn of a page brings something interesting or a suprise. I would reccomend this book to everybody. I think this book is wonderful and interesting and most people who have read it probably do too.
Rating:
Summary: An Event To Remember
Review: I think this is a very good book to read because it tells how a young girl's mother died and how her father left when she was a little girl. She grew up living with her grandmother and her two aunts. She left her village in search of her father.
Rating:
Summary: Nhamo's brave spirit enlightens a wonderful story
Review: Nhamo is a strong, brave, and determined young woman who lives in a tribe in Africa. Forced to marry an older man to save her relatives, Nhamo flees from her village. Her journey is very dangerous, as she tries to survive the rivers, animals, and great spirits. Without anyone to talk to Nhamo talks to a sacred picture from an old magazine, pretending that it is her mother, who was killed by a lepoard many years ago. It keeps her company,along with the spirits of the water and the spirit an old man who used to live in her village named Crocodile Guts. Nhamo travels down many rivers encountering many obstacles, as she tries to reach her only hope, her father in Zimbabwae. When Nhamo becomes lost in a storm, she is washed upon an island shore, with her boat severly damaged, where she must learn how to survive for many months while sharing the island with wild baboons. Still she is in search of her father in Zimbabwae, but struggles to reach him ,fearing that she'll never make it to Zimbabwae alive. As you read about Nhamo's struggles and triumphs in this wonderful story, you begin to feel for her and begin to realize how hard she works and how african women were treated. She becomes a real woman, realizing that life isn't always easy and isn't always what you plan. The african tales told in this book by Nhamo and her Grandmother are very interesting and have many morals intertwined in them. Nhamo shows strength and courage, and demonstrates that you must never give up no matter what the circumstances may be. There are a number of surprises and twists in this book. Although the story is very interesting, it did slow down throughout the middle, but gave a ton of descriptive detail. Nancy Farmer includes African words in the text to provide a learning experience and discovery for all ages. An African dictionary and brief history of African life is included in the back, which is extremely interesting and makes the book seem very real. It is researched very well, and is truely an African American story, that one should read. I suggest that you try reading at least 20-30 pgs of the book and decide if you like it. It is quite confusing in the begining, however the pace speeds up and leads into an adventure that all will enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Ever!
Review: The name of my favorite book is "A Girl Named Disaster." I thought that this book should receive a five star rating because it was so dramatic, dangerous, and also very sad. I thought this book is an all-around good book and I wish I had a copy of it. There were very few things I disliked about this book. However, it was very emotional, there were parts I didn't understand, but other than that it was a very good and detailed book. A young girl named Nhamo's, mother was killed when Nhamo was a baby by a leopard and her father had killed someone and left Nhamo with her aunts, Aunt Chipo and Aunt Shuvai. A disease starts to kill people in her village so they go to this man her cousin is supposed to gett married to and he told them that Nhamo was the cause and that she was a witch.When they got back to their village the wedding was a few days later and her Grandmother helped her escape in Crocidile Guts boat. Nhamo meets a lot of animals on her journey but the rest you have to read for yourself. I think people with an average reading level should read this because it is hard to understand and has hard words in it, but other than that I think anyone that likes dangerous, and action filled books should read this great book.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Nancy Farmer is a terrific writer. I was deeply involved with this story - a physical and personal journey of wonderful complexity. Both of my teenagers read this and urged me to read it and I am glad I did.
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