Synopsis
This story of adventure, survival, inner strength, and family heritage introduces readers to life among the Shona people of Africa. Although Nhamo is only 11 years old, she's already had a very difficult life. Nhamo's father abandoned her when she was a baby, and later, her mother was killed by a leopard. Since that time, Nhamo has lived with her stern but loving grandmother, Ambuya, and the family of her bitter aunt Chipo. When Nhamo discovers that she is going to be forced to marry a cruel man who already has three wives, she and her grandmother enact a daring plan that will help Nhamo escape her fate, but will also take her away from the only family, and home, she has ever known. As Nhamo makes a dangerous solo boat journey from Mozambique to Zimbabwe (where she hopes to be reunited with her father), she faces many dangers, but her Shona beliefs, and the spirits of her ancestors and friends help her find a way to survive. This thoroughly researched 1997 Newbery Honor Book features backmatter that explains the cultures and beliefs of the Shona people as well as the history and peoples of Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
While fleeing from Mozambique to Zimbabwe to escape an unwanted marriage, Nhamo, an eleven-year-old Shona girl, struggles to escape drowning and starvation and in so doing comes close to the luminous world of the African spirits.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-03-01 | | Edition Description: | Reprint |
| Size | | Height: | 7.8 in | | Width: | 5.0 in | | Thickness: | 0.8 in | | Weight: | 8.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
After the death of her mother, Nhamo is left a virtual slave in her small African village. Upon learning that before her 12th birthday she must marry a cruel man with three other wives, Nhamo desperately decides to run away. Nancy Farmer's masterful storytelling makes this "an extraordinarily rich novel featuring a most remarkable heroine" ("The Horn Book, " starred review).
Nhamo's mother is dead, and her father is gone. She is a virtual slave in her small African village. Before her twelfth birthday, Nhamo learns that she must marry a cruel man with three other wives-and decides desperately to run away. Alone on the river, in a stolen boat, she is swept into the uncharted heart of a great lake. There, she battles drowning, starvation, and wild animals, and comes to know Africa's mystical, luminous spirits. Nancy Farmer's masterful storytelling makes this a truly spellbinding novel-and readers will be cheering for Nhamo from beginning to end. "A gripping adventure, equally a survival story and a spiritual voyage....Nhamo is a stunning creation-while she serves as a fictional ambassador from a foreign culture, she is supremely human. An unforgettable work." -Publishers Weekly, starred review
Industry Reviews
"...Farmer does an excellent job of showing how belief in the spirit world permeates Nhamo's existence. Her writing offers outsiders a window onto a complex culture, nestled within a wider, complex society."
Five Owls - Christine Heppermann
"The book is an excellent example of young adult fiction which draws the teenager into the story to learn about other cultures."
Voya - Norma A. Sisson (12/19/1996)
"This is a richly atmospheric novel that moves effortlessly from the depiction of domestic life to the grandeur of the African landscape. It vividly portrays the intricate set of relationships that form a family and a village; Nhamo's relationship with her independent, outspoken grandmother is especially moving."
Washington Post Book World - Linda Barrett Osborne (05/04/1997)
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