A Girl Named Disaster
Encyclopedia
A Girl Named Disaster is a 1996 novel by Nancy Farmer
. In 1997, Farmer won the Newbery Honor for the novel, which was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The book explores the qualities needed to survive in a hostile environment (particularly by a woman), coming-of-age and the availability of spiritual guidance.
girl living in a primitive village located in Mozambique
(1981). She was raised with the traditions and customs of her tribe, but because of how scandal seemed to follow her and her mother, she was named "Disaster" in the Shona language. After experiencing trouble with a cholera epidemic, a ghost leopard, and a prescribed marriage proposed by a false witch doctor, she flees with her dying grandmother's blessings, some gold nuggets, and her meager survival skills. Nhamo steals a boat as her grandmother wishes and uses the river as her road to Zimbabwe, where she faces the threat of hippos and other animals.
What should have been a two-day boat trip across the border to her father's family in Zimbabwe
spans a year in which Nhamo faces starvation, drowning, and the threat of hungry or aggressive animals. The girl finds her way to a lush, haunted island and lives alongside a troop of baboons. Daily conversations with spirits combat Nhamo's loneliness and provide her with sage and practical advice. 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 how to live in a modern society (clothing, behavior, literacy), and is urged to let go of the "evil" spirits that "possess" her as prescribed by a priest.
Nancy Farmer
Nancy Farmer may refer to:* Nancy Farmer , former State Treasurer of Missouri* Nancy Farmer , three-time winner of the Newbery Honor and winner of National Book Award...
. In 1997, Farmer won the Newbery Honor for the novel, which was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. The book explores the qualities needed to survive in a hostile environment (particularly by a woman), coming-of-age and the availability of spiritual guidance.
Synopsis
Nhamo is an 11-year old ShonaShona
Shona may refer to:*Shona people, a Southern African people*Shona language, a Bantu language spoken By Shona people*Eilean Shona, a Scottish island*Shona...
girl living in a primitive village located in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
(1981). She was raised with the traditions and customs of her tribe, but because of how scandal seemed to follow her and her mother, she was named "Disaster" in the Shona language. After experiencing trouble with a cholera epidemic, a ghost leopard, and a prescribed marriage proposed by a false witch doctor, she flees with her dying grandmother's blessings, some gold nuggets, and her meager survival skills. Nhamo steals a boat as her grandmother wishes and uses the river as her road to Zimbabwe, where she faces the threat of hippos and other animals.
What should have been a two-day boat trip across the border to her father's family in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
spans a year in which Nhamo faces starvation, drowning, and the threat of hungry or aggressive animals. The girl finds her way to a lush, haunted island and lives alongside a troop of baboons. Daily conversations with spirits combat Nhamo's loneliness and provide her with sage and practical advice. 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 how to live in a modern society (clothing, behavior, literacy), and is urged to let go of the "evil" spirits that "possess" her as prescribed by a priest.
Characters
- Nhamo Jongwe: The girl named "disaster". She got her name due to the many disasters she faces during her life, even as a child. However, Nhamo is resourceful and clever, in spite of the bad luck she supposedly causes.
- Aunt Chipo: Nhamo's bad tempered aunt, who has resented Runako, Nhamo's deceased mother and Chipo's older sister, since they were children. She has hated Nhamo and her mother ever since she was born and forces her to do most of the work in the village, allowing her daughter, Masvita, to do the less strenuous tasks.
- Masvita: Nhamo's sweet tempered cousin, who behaves respectfully towards Nhamo, in spite of how mean-spirited her mother is.
- Aunt Shuvai: Nhamo's younger aunt. She is considerably more ambivalent to Nhamo.
- Uncle Kufa: Nhamo's uncle and Aunt Chipo's husband. He is a pragmatic man.
- Ruva: Masvita's youngest sister.
- Ambuya: Nhamo and Masvita's grandmother. She treats Nhamo with respect and loves her dearly, and is one of the few people to do so. Chipo resents her mother, believing that Ambuya favoured Runako (Nhamo's mother) for doing well in school and Shuvai, who was the youngest of Ambuyo's three daughters.
- Tazviona: a girl born with a twisted foot, with whom Nhamo got into an argument.