A Girl Named Disaster

Starred review from September 2, 1996
Farmer (The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm; The Warm Place, see p. 84) returns to Africa for the setting of this gripping adventure, equally a survival story and a spiritual voyage. When cholera decimates a village in Mozambique, a muvuki (traditional healer) identifies the cause of the illness as the work of an ngozi (avenging spirit) who had been slain by the orphan Nhamo's father. The muvuki decrees that Nhamo must marry the ngozi's surviving brother-a diseased and brutal man. Urged by her grandmother, Nhamo runs away, in hopes of finding her father's family in Zimbabwe. The two- or three-day boat trip, however, turns into a months-long odyssey through wilderness, where Nhamo must call upon all the skills she has ever learned in order to stay alive. Farmer overlays this suspenseful tale with a rich and respectful appreciation of Nhamo's beliefs. Without slowing the pace or changing her tone, she interpolates folktales that illuminate Shona culture; she also casts Nhamo's ordeal in terms of the spirit world, so that Nhamo confronts not just wild animals but witches, and communes not just with memories but with ancestral spirits. Nhamo herself is a stunning creation-while she serves as a fictional ambassador from a foreign culture, she is supremely human. An unforgettable work. Ages 11-up.

Starred review from October 1, 1996
Gr 6-9-For Nhamo, an 11-year-old Shona girl living in Mozambique in 1981, life is filled with the traditions of her village people. When family circumstances, a ngozi (angry spirit), and a cholera epidemic force her into a horrible marriage, she flees with only her grandmother's blessings, some gold nuggets, and many survival skills. Still, what should have been a two-day boat trip across the border to her father's family in Zimbabwe spans a year. Daily conversations with spirits help to combat her loneliness and provide her with sage and practical advice. The most incredible leg of her journey is spent on an island where Nhamo closely observes and is warily accepted by a baboon family only to have one of them destroy her shelter and food supply. She makes mistakes, loses heart, and nearly dies of starvation. Even after she arrives in Zimbabwe where she lives with scientists before meeting her father's family, Nhamo must learn to survive in civilization and exorcise the demons that haunt her. A cast of characters, glossary, background information on South Africa and the Shona, and a bibliography ground this novel's details and culture. This story is humorous and heartwrenching, complex and multilayered, and the fortunate child who reads it will place Nhamo alongside Zia (Island of the Dolphins) and Julie (Julie of the Wolves). An engrossing and memorable saga.-Susan Pine, New York Public Library

September 1, 1996
Gr. 6^-10. Farmer returns to Mozambique and Zimbabwe for a thick and twisting tale that follows Nhamo, a modern-day Shona girl who flees her village rather than marry a cruel man to placate an avenging spirit. Spirits are master players in this story, and to Nhamo they mean life or death. She holds frequent conversations with her dead mother, whom she visualizes by means of a torn-out magazine advertisement; and her treacherous escape by boat to Zimbabwe, where her father's family lives, is peppered with visits from water spirits, as well as the spirit of the dead man who owned her craft. Farmer marvelously evokes the narrow but hopeful atmosphere of Nhamo's existence--her pariah status in the village, her constant struggle for survival in the wilderness, and her initial difficulty in adjusting to a westernized society. Nhamo's relationships with her grandmother and cousin ring true, as do the occasionally humorous stories she tells herself in times of despair. However, the pacing of the complex story line is uneven, and many readers will be unnerved by the overflow of foreign words, which are sometimes explained in footnotes that could seem interruptive. These shortcomings, unfortunately, may limit the audience for an otherwise strong showing. Cast of characters; glossary; appendixes; bibliography. ((Reviewed Sept. 1, 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)

March 2, 1998
This 1997 Newbery Honor book, which is set in Africa, is both a survival story and a spiritual voyage. " is a stunning creation--while she serves as a fictional ambassador from a foreign culture, she is supremely human. An unforgettable work," said PW in a starred review. Ages 10-14.