A Girl Named Disaster

by Nancy Farmer

Book Overview

Nhamo's mother is dead, and her father is gone. She is a virtual slave in her small African village. Before her twelfth birthday, Nhamo learns that she must marry a cruel man with three other wives and decides desperately to run away. Alone on the river, in a stolen boat, she is swept into the uncharted heart of a great lake. There, she battles drowning, starvation, and wild animals, and comes to know Africa's mystical, luminous spirits. Nancy Farmer's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140386351
• ISBN13: 9780140386356
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 309 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.8"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A Girl Named Disaster

A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer, Puffin Publishing co. "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. 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!

Wonderfully misnamed heroine

The middle of Farmer's three Newbery Honor books of the last decade, this is different, being historical fiction adventure to the other two's science fiction. Like The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm, this takes place in Africa, giving it an exotic touch. Nhamo (Disaster in her native Shona language) is an orphan of sorts, with a deceased mother and absent father, living traditionally in a tribal village in southern Africa. Through circumstances beyond her own making, she is put in a position of fleeing her home, a not uncommon Newbery theme (see Crispin The Cross of Lead) For this reader, she partakes in the adventure of a strong, bright, observant, resourceful girl/young woman reminding me of Miyax (Julie of the Wolves), Omakayas (The Birchbark House) and Karana (Island of the Blue Dolphins), high company, indeed. Nhamo leads a fascinating life, both in the village and after leaving it, including spending significant amounts of time fending for herself. This is thoroughly enjoyable on many counts, the intriguing cultures, countrysides, and relationships, some touches of spiritualism, the ideas of how to maintain oneself emotionally and physically when isolated, the ideas of perseverance in the face of what appear to be insurmountable obstacles, and flexibility and teaching oneself what's necessary when it's necessary. Well suited for secondary grades, a very strong reading fifth or sixth grader could enjoy it, too.

ONE OF NANCY FARMER'S BEST

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!

A Girl Named Disaster

Imagine your mother is dead and your dad is a murder. You have no parents and you live in a village with the rest of your family from your moms side. You feel lonely there is no one to turn to. No one likes you. Then A Girl named Disaster by Nancy Farmer is a book for you. A Girl named Disaster takes place in a village near Zimbabwe. In this story Nhamos mother and father are gone. She lives with a whole bunch of her aunts, uncles, grandma's, etc. Nhamo is not wanted anywhere. She always has to do chores and and take care of people. Nhamo is very jealous of her cousin Masvita. One day an illness came all throughout the village. Almost everyone died over the sickness. Masvita turned so skinny you could just about see through her skin. Nhamo was told to care for her. The villagers decieded to go see the muvuki at bthe trading post. The family took off early in the morning because it was miles away. As they arrived Nhamo saw many things she hadn't before. If you like adventurous books or Newbory honor award books. Grab A Girl Named Disaster off the shelftoday. Once you start reading it you wont put it down. You'll love it.

The Best Book Ever!

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.