A girl named disaster
It has no series
Adventure/”Coming of Age” story/Multicultural
Orchard books
1996
paperback/print
293
THE STORY: A girl named Nhamo grew up in an African village where the people around her didn’t treat her very nicely. The only people that cared for her were her Grandmother and her older cousin. Nhamo doesn’t have any parents around because when she was little her father ran away because he had killed another man. And Nhamo’s mother was killed by a leopard. For eleven years Nhamo lived a hard and unfair life in her village when a harmful disease hit the village. The villagers then call a traditional healer who claims that Nhamo is the cause of the disease. The healer says that to get rid of the disease Nhamo must marry the brother of the man her father murdered. Unfortunately the man Nhamo must marry is selfish and brutal. Nhamo then takes a boat and sneaks out of the village to avoid marriage and find her fathers family. Nhamo realizes what a dangerous journey she has to go through. During her trip Nhamo lives for months on deserted island facing illness, starvation and other dangers. She later comes across a science staff nation that respect her more than the people in in village did. They take her in and they then later help her find her way to her fathers side of the family and finally finds was she was always looking for. Respect and acceptance.
MY OPINION: I enjoyed the book because it gave me a good mental picture how life in the village was like. I liked how the author mentioned Nhamo’s everyday tasks and how the book was Nhamo’s point of view. If I had to change something in the book I would change the part where Nhamo went into the forest to collect twigs for a fire and she saw a leopard, I would change that part because it was unimportant in the story. I disliked the part when Nhamo’s family ate dinner and all men and boys eat first and then the women eat last. I thought it was awesome when Nhamo had a sense of freedom and acceptance when she met her dad’s side of the family. I give this book eight and a half points out of ten because the book was very good and because of some unimportant stories in the book. I would recommend this book to 7th and 8th graders that want to read about different cultures and their customs.
FIRST SECTION
1. Why does Nhamo’s Grandmother despise leopards?
1a. Nhamo’s grandmother hates leopards because her daughter was killed by one.
2. What happened to Nhamo when she was young?
2a. She spilled piping hot porridge on her feet.
3. Why did Mambo send his soldiers to kill his wife?
3a. Mambo killed his wife because he heard voices from his wife saying, “If not for Tumbale there would be no victory.
4. Why did Nhamo think the woman ended up living in a drum?
4a. Nhamo thought this because she thought her dead spirit will be locked up.
5. What do you think Nhamo’s cousin meant that the pot bursted in the oven?
5a. She meant the pot she made broke in the oven.
trudged(pg. 12)
winnowing(pg.17)
chaff(pg. 17)
converged(pg. 23)
shone(pg. 26)
SECOND SECTION
6. Why did Grandmother invite Nhamo for lemonade?
6a. Since Nhamo’s cousin was gone her grandmother wanted company.
7.Why did only the elderly get to enjoy sugar and tea?
7a. The elderly were given this luxury because they were the wisest in the village.
8.Why did no one believe Nhamo when she saw the mountain lion.
8a. They didn’t believe her because they thought she wanted attention.
9. Why does Nhamo have to work so much?
9a. Nhamo works over time because she is one of the younger people in the village.
10.What is Nhamo’s least favorite job to do in the village?
10a. Grinding the mealies.
querulous(pg. 123)
foraging(pg. 126)
permeated(pg. 125)
wary(pg. 129)
dismal(pg. 133)
LAST SECTION
11. Why did Nhamo’s hosts call her wild child?
11a. Since Nhamo grew up in a village surrounded by a forest, her hosts nicknamed her “wild child”. 12. Why was Nhamo scared when the nurse rang the doorbell?
12a. She thought that the owners in the house would hate her because she wasn’t very educated
13. Who is Clever?
13a. Like Nhamo, Clever was a boy from a village with little education. He went to school with Nhamo. 14. Why did Nhamo enjoy school?
14a. She enjoyed school because it is more fun than working all day in a village and not getting any respect for it.
15.Why was Nhamo happy when she got to eat lunch with her great grandfather?
15a. She was happy because she got to meet her great grandfather, and she could eat food that she normally never gets. adder(pg. 278) bleary(pg. 279) shunted(pg. 279) clamor(pg. 280) thatch(pg. 282)