The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm [Library Binding]

Nancy Farmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1994

In Zimbabwe, in the year 2194, young Tendai and his siblings are kidnapped and put to work in plastic mines, only to escape and be hunted by detectives with superior senses and a plan to sacrifice Tendai to ignite a spirit invasion of their land.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up?It is the year 2194 in Harare, Zimbabwe. When the three over-protected children of General Amadeus Matsika are kidnapped, they learn that their country is a land of contrasts. Wealthy people live in homes staffed by robots and protected by automatic dobermans, while the poor live in a neighborhood known as The Cow's Guts, mining for plastic within the tunnels of Dead Man's Vlei (a toxic waste dump). Resthaven is an enclave for people who cling to the ancient traditions, beliefs, and customs of the Shona tribe, but the nearby MacIlwaine Hotel is a mile-high vertical city of apartments, schools, clinics, and supermarkets. As the children journey from one predicament to another, three unlikely detectives from an agency known as The Ear, the Eye and the Arm attempt to rescue them. Narrator George Guidall does a brilliant job of conveying the complex natures of a wide range of characters. Without resorting to vocal stereotypes, he portrays military generals, adolescent girls, gang thugs, fey tutors, ancient spirit mediums and small boys with equal skill. Coached by the author herself, he has mastered the pronunciation of vocabulary from the Shona, Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaans languages. With its blend of high-tech futurism and authentic African tribal folklore, Nancy Farmer's Newbery Honor Book (Orchard, 1994) is an exciting selection for recorded fiction. This story will challenge young adult readers?and listeners?to think about their own lives and futures.
Margaret Rigg Myhre, Cataldo Catholic School, Spokane, WA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 7-10. 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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Library Binding: 311 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531086798
• ISBN-13: 978-0531086797
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (319 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,387,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Farmer has written three Newbery Honor Books: The Ear the Eye and the Arm; A Girl Named Disaster; and The House of the Scorpion, which, in 2002, also won the National Book Award. Other books include Do You Know Me, The Warm Place, the Trolls trilogy and three picture books for young children. She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and lives with her family in Arizona.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nancy Farmer: Sci-fi children's author extraordinaire, January 1, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (Paperback)

The best futuristic sci-fi tale for children set in Zimbabwe I've ever read. Which is unfair backhanded praise for a book that, in my opinion, should've been awarded the Newberry Award without question. Sometimes I like to pretend that I'm at a party and a savvy Hollywood producer comes up to me and asks for the number one children's book that should be optioned for a movie. Batta bing, I recommend this book. In it, you have a well-developed plot containing characters of amazing depth. No two-dimensional stick figures for this children's novel. The setting is more than unique. It is unparalleled. Farmer's ingenuity has created a book that speaks volumes. Not only is it an enjoyable edge-of-your-seat mystery, but there's a distinctly moral core to the book. It's the rare story that can make a person actually enjoy a section on (believe it or not) "courage". If your children can read, give them this book. If your children cannot read, give them this book anyway and teach them to do so with it. There is no higher praise I can give.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ BOOK!, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (Library Binding)

This is a terrific book. It is set in the future in Africa. Tendai, Rita, and Kuda who are the sons and daughter of Amadeus Matsika, the country's Cheif of Security. Matsika has wiped out almost all of the gangs except one, the Masks. After being kidnapped by the She Elephant, Tendai, Rita, and Kuda have to find a way home or they might fall victim to a terrible fate. They finally escape with the help of Trashman, a man in his twenties with the mind of a small child. They are taken to a place called Resthaven. Resthaven is like a small country, but it is set in the past. They live in the ways of the ancestors. After the children are found missing, Matsika's wife hires three private eyes, literally. These three have special powers. One has super strong eyes, another super strong ears, and finally super long limbs. As this story unfolds, see how the tale of Tendai, Rita, and Kuda changes your perspective on life.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sci-Fi Suspense Thriller!, August 29, 2005

By 

Marcia Kramer - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (Paperback)

This is the greatest book I have ever read. I have never read any other Nancy Farmer book before, but I automatically fell in love with it. Usually I can't finish a regular chapter book, but in the course of 5 days I fniished the whole, entire book. Here's the plot without giving anything away: It is Zimbabwe, 2194, and children of the Chief of Security who live a sheltered life, embark on a magical and suspenseful adventure which includes getting kidnapped by a drug and alcohol ring, being enslaved in a toxic wasteland, going back in time to a traditional African village and making friends with a giant and funny mentally challenged man. Since these children went on this adventure without their parents permission, the parents think the children are missing and call upon the world's three greatest sleuths, the Eye (who can see so clearly he can see how the world is made up molecules, particles and atoms) the Ear (who can hear a scream or a whisper from thirty miles away) and the Arm (who has unhuman emotional instincts). Both the children and the detectives adventures will intertwine with Shona mythology and will embark on an amazing journey through a digitalized Zimbabwe of the future and the preserved Zimbabwe of the past.