A review by hopegirl0727
A Girl Named Disaster, by Nancy Farmer
3.0
An interesting read about a young girl from a remote village in Mozambique who sets off on her own journey to get to Zimbabwe. I offered this book as a book project choice to my fifth graders, and all of them who read it really enjoyed it. I dare say it was the most popular of the ones I offered. Having said that, as an adult there were parts of the story I really enjoyed and others that felt a bit long. Overall, I would recommend this for most 5th-7th graders, depending on their reading level.
Nhamo is a young girl living in a remote African village. Her mother was killed when she was a little girl, and her father was an outsider who disappeared and is now living in Zimbabwe. When the spirit of a man her father murdered brings down a cholera infection on her village and calls for revenge, the local witch doctor says the only way to appease the spirit is to marry Nhamo to the brother of the deceased, a cruel man who already has several wives. Nhamo and her grandmother have different ideas, though, and Nhamo escapes to journey onward to her father's family in Zimbabwe. However, the journey takes much longer than expected and she must survive out in the African wilderness, growing and finding food, fighting with animals, and dealing with the harshness of being alone.
I loved how this book introduced me to the culture of the Shona people in Mozambique. It did so in a way that didn't feel patronizing (like so many American Girl books and was respectful of the ideas and beliefs of the people. I learned a lot and felt totally immersed in the culture and ways of thinking of the people. I also enjoyed how the focus was on this African girl, but the main ideas weren't about the struggle between whites and blacks. That was mentioned, but the central character and her struggles for survival were the main focus. There were hardly any white people at all in the story and a discussion of race like that would have felt very forced. Instead, some of the major issues discussed were women's issues (how women should be educated and independent), the coming-of-age story (Nhamo becomes a woman during her travels), and the importance of family and doing what's right as opposed to doing what's traditional.
All in all, a very enjoyable book I will be offering next year.
Nhamo is a young girl living in a remote African village. Her mother was killed when she was a little girl, and her father was an outsider who disappeared and is now living in Zimbabwe. When the spirit of a man her father murdered brings down a cholera infection on her village and calls for revenge, the local witch doctor says the only way to appease the spirit is to marry Nhamo to the brother of the deceased, a cruel man who already has several wives. Nhamo and her grandmother have different ideas, though, and Nhamo escapes to journey onward to her father's family in Zimbabwe. However, the journey takes much longer than expected and she must survive out in the African wilderness, growing and finding food, fighting with animals, and dealing with the harshness of being alone.
I loved how this book introduced me to the culture of the Shona people in Mozambique. It did so in a way that didn't feel patronizing (like so many American Girl books and was respectful of the ideas and beliefs of the people. I learned a lot and felt totally immersed in the culture and ways of thinking of the people. I also enjoyed how the focus was on this African girl, but the main ideas weren't about the struggle between whites and blacks. That was mentioned, but the central character and her struggles for survival were the main focus. There were hardly any white people at all in the story and a discussion of race like that would have felt very forced. Instead, some of the major issues discussed were women's issues (how women should be educated and independent), the coming-of-age story (Nhamo becomes a woman during her travels), and the importance of family and doing what's right as opposed to doing what's traditional.
All in all, a very enjoyable book I will be offering next year.