The Ear, the Eye and the Arm (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

by Nancy Farmer, BookSource Staff (Compiler)

Overview

In 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780606239448
Publisher:	Perfection Learning Corporation
Publication date:	04/04/2019
Edition description:	THIS EDITION IS INTENDED FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	11 - 14 Years

About the Author

A former chemistry teacher and insect pathology technician who grew up in a quirky hotel on the Arizona/Mexican border, Nancy Farmer's futurisic, fantastical adventures -- like the 2002 National Book Award Winner The House of the Scorpion -- are clearly a reflection of a happily unconventional life.

Hometown:

Menlo Park, California

Date of Birth:

July 9, 1941

Place of Birth:

Phoenix, Arizona

Education:

B.A., Reed College, 1963

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
This is Zimbabwe, and the year is 2194. This is Africa of the future, and General Matsika's world. The general is a stern man; he has had to be. It has been his iron will and unbreakable resolve that have saved Zimbabwe. Amadeus Matsika is Chief of Security for the Land of Zimbabwe and he carries the weight and responsibility for the safety of 10 million citizens. He has saved his country from the enemies within -- the gangs, hoodlums, and thieves -- and also the enemies at the border, the Gondwannans. He has seen the evils of crime and war, and he's determined to fight the chaos with order. But you know what they say about the best-laid plans...

The general has three children, and most of their young lives have been spent in the family compound. They have been safe, and their lives have been very dull. Kuda, the youngest, is the family's little lion-hearted warrior. Rita, the middle child, is strong-willed and impetuous. Tendai, the eldest son, has lived both in his father's shadow and with the fear that he will never meet his father's high expectations. Tendai needs an explorer's badge to become an Eagle Scout, and he can get one by walking across the city -- an act their father would never permit. The children have never been out in the real world, unprotected and alone, before. But they decide they need an adventure, so they trick their way out, and the excitement begins!

The children face danger and adventure in the underbelly of the city. They are kidnapped, enslaved, and chased. But at every turn the children overcome obstacles and the evil plans of their tormentors with their wits and great courage, and a boy finds the hero in himself. I've rarely read such an empowering story. (James Killen)

bn.com

Even readers who don't like sf will be drawn to a hero who has a sense of humor about his serious mission. In Zimbabwe in the year 2194, the military ruler's 13-year-old son and his younger brother and sister leave their technologically overcontrolled home and find themselves on a series of perilous adventures. Tendai and his siblings encounter mile-high buildings and other miracles of scientific advance; they also find fetid slums and toxic waste dumps. As they're kidnapped by gangsters, forced to slave in a plastic mine, and accused of witchcraft, they're pursued by mutant detectives, who are both bumbling and sensitive and who always seem to be just one step behind rescuing the children. In the best section, the siblings find themselves in a traditional Shona village that at first seems idyllic but turns out to also encompass fierce sexism, ignorance, and disease. Throughout the story, it's the thrilling adventure that will grab readers, who will also like the comic, tender characterizations, not only of the brave, defiant trio and the absurd detectives, but also of nearly every one the kids meet, from street gangsters and spiritual healers to the English tribespeople with their weird customs. Tendai's spiritual coming-of-age is the least interesting part of the novel, but teens will like this teenager with "a hot line to the spirit world."

Hazel Rochman