Customer Reviews

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

5 star:		(171)
4 star:		(106)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This is a great book that takes place in Africa. It takes place in the near future. It is about a gang who were very powerful in Africa and were very deadly and scary. They kidnapped the General Masika's sons who went out on a forbidden adventure outside of their house. He hired the best detectives in Africa, they were the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm. There is something special about the detecitevs though, they all have special abilites. The Ear a incredible sence of hearing, the Eye can see very far and very well, and the Arm can extend all parts of his body out. These talents are what make this charcters intresting and unique. They also save them and help them throught there quest to find the kids. This book was written by Nancy Farmer. "The Eat the Eye and the Arm" takes place in the future and is set in a country name Zimbabwe, in Africa.
I give this book a 9/10 for it's exciting thrills and the book makes you just want to keep on reading. I recommend this book to 9th graders for its intense vocabulary and the images this book might give you. I hope you go out and get this book for your future reading.

I read most of this book in fourth grade, then lost it. Im twenty years old now, and every so often, since the time i first read it, I've actually thought "Boy that was a great book, I should re-read it ... and finish it this time." It took me till three weeks ago, and I finially purchased this hardcover edition. I dont regret it! It is one of my all time favorite books. Theres a sense and smell to each page, something real about everything the author says. It's a science fiction with a flare of something akin to fantasy. I cant quite explain. You'll simply have to read it! I loved this book and am sure to read it again and again ... :)

Harare Zimbabwe 2194. Cars fly. Robots and mechanical guard dogs maintain household order. Want to see real plastic? Go to a museum.
Author Nancy Farmer lived 17 years in Africa. She creates complex, realistic characters, especially the Matiska children and the three detectives. Minor players - the She-Elephant, the Mellower, his mother - are also well-drawn. You remember them.

Africa's future is tied to its past. Greed and prejudice still exist, but so do courage and resourcefulness. I liked how the native Shona spiritual world influences the characters.
Unforgettable setting + humor + insight = unique adventure/coming of age novel for children and adults. I referred to the appendix and glossary throughout the book; both aided my understanding.

This was the first Nancy Farmer book I tried. I look forward to reading more by this accomplished author.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is one of my all-time favorite books. And I don't mean just one of my all-time favorite KID books. It is rich and complex and imaginative enough for any adult reader to savor.

This story manages to blend and blur comedy with creepy, supernatural and surrealistic horror, cultural legend with a private detective story, far future with distant past, and science fiction with social insight. This is done with a cast of characters that are all splendidly drawn and recognizable, KNOWABLE human beings. From the 3 children at the heart of the adventure, to the mutated, talented, and absolutely luckless 3 private eyes charged with saving them, the characters are all clear, laughable, flawed, and loveable.

Tendai is smart and imaginative, but doubts his own personal courage. Rita, his chubby little sister, is spoiled and self-centered, but strong-minded. Kuda, their little brother, is tough and curious, but has no ability to measure consequences before acting. Escaping from the ultra-safety of their wealthy parents' beautiful but claustrophobic estate, they have mere moments of freedom before they fall into the hands of organized criminals.

They end up finding help from unlikely sources - the Trashman, a homeless tramp that cannot talk, the She-Elephant, the criminal queen of the tunnels of the radioactive dumpheap - but of course, most of all from their own unsuspected resourcefulness and determination, and at last from the 3 private detectives for whom the book is titled, who get everywhere, of course, always a bit too late...

The story line is anything but simple. The children escape from one danger only to fall prey to another, but danger comes not only from expected directions. Repeatedly they seem to have fought free, only to find that they are in a new kind of trap. Farmer effortlessly draws new environments and social structures in each segment of the adventure - all convincing and rich and real.

In Farmer's so-believable post-apocalyptic Zimbabwe, there are many of the same cultural influences of modern time - the Matsikas are immersed in the history of their land, the "Mellower" and his family are utterly British, and the cities and the slums are what they have always been, with the addition of the delicate changes of futuristic radiation-based diseases and mutations. The jewel-like world of Resthaven, hidden and walled away in the middle of the city, makes a poignant argument for the simpler ways of the past - and for the very real improvements which only the painful changes of the modern world have enabled.

This book can be "just fun" for any kid to read. But it is chock full of so much more for the perception of readers at all levels. The names and the language of each character are filled with cross-cultural humor, and background details invite flights of imagination. It is a hugely satisfying book to read, and to re-read. I recommend it for anyone. And everybody.

General Matsika's three children feel as though they are locked up in their house too much and that their father is over protective. When the Mellower sets the children free, General Matsika sets the best detectives, the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, out to search for them. As the detectives search, they are always one step behind the children. I don't like books that have a long beginning and this book has one, but with all the adventure and mystery that happens, it hooked me into what is happening and I don't want to put this book down. I recommend this book for 6th graders and up. Also in this book you learn about African tribal life.

The Ear the Eye and the Arm is an engaging science fiction novel. This book is a wonderful novel for all ages to read. It all starts out in Zimbabwe in the year 2194 AD. 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.
I enjoyed the part when the three children successfully escape the Dead Man's Vlei because I thought that the She Elephant was a horrible, unattractive old woman. I also took pleasure in the part that Arm decided to be the father of Seki. I thought this was very thoughtful of him.
My least favorite part in the story was when there was a fighting scene in Mr. Thirsty's illegal beer hall. Eye was almost shot with a nirvana gun, but instead fainted because Mr. Thirsty blocked the shot with a food tray. There was another scene in the book when the blue monkey bit Ear and injured him badly. I thought that these parts were inappropriate for young readers.
The mission of the Ear, Eye, and Arm takes them from the underbelly of the city to the swaying top of the Mile-High Macllwaine Hotel. Yet the children stay just out of their reach. The evils of the past, the technology of the future, criminals with plans way beyond what anyone can ever dream of. Will the Matsika children escape from the center of it all?
I believe that this story allows young children to see into the future and imagine what it will look like. I also feel that this book shows kids to be more careful around people they have never met and to watch out for outsiders because they can be evil humans like the She Elephant. You will have to read on to take pleasure in the book The Ear the Eye and the Arm.

This is a wonderfully original work of art! I checked this book out from my school library a year ago because it was by Nancy Farmer. Earlier in that year, I bought a different book by Nancy Farmer called The House of the Scorpion (which is another masterpiece) and after reading that book, Nancy Farmer became my favorite author! So I wanted to read some more books by her. That's when I saw The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm just sitting on the library shelf! I must say, it was a great book and I can't wait to buy it! Don't forget to check out The House of the Scorpion (which is now my favorite book)!