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119th out of 472 books
—
4,350 voters
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm
by
Nancy Farmer (Goodreads Author)
General Matsika's children steal out of the house on a forbidden adventure--and disappear. In Zimbabwe, in the year 2194, the children's parents call in Africa's most unusual detectives--the Ear, the Eye and the Arm--who have powers far beyond those of other human beings. The children must avoid the evils of the past, the technology of the future, and a motley assortment o...more
Mass Market Paperback, 311 pages
Published
October 1st 1995
by Puffin
(first published March 1st 1994)
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I enjoyed this book, but it had problems.
The story is about a group of 3 children who go out into the world and get kidnapped. Excessively. They get kidnapped, and escape, and then kidnapped again, and escape, over and over again. To the point where it stops being believable.
The other problem is that the author set out to write a sci-fi novel. I know this, because she says so in the introduction. It is not a sci-fi novel. The book has a bunch of stock sci-fi features, but they are randomly stuc...more
The story is about a group of 3 children who go out into the world and get kidnapped. Excessively. They get kidnapped, and escape, and then kidnapped again, and escape, over and over again. To the point where it stops being believable.
The other problem is that the author set out to write a sci-fi novel. I know this, because she says so in the introduction. It is not a sci-fi novel. The book has a bunch of stock sci-fi features, but they are randomly stuc...more
This book is amazing. Period. End of story.
Last year, when I was strolling through the classroom library, I came upon this book. I saw the cover and I said, "This is the best cover ever." Others may disagree with that statement, but I'm me and I thought it looked awesome. I decided to give it a shot. BAM! It blew me away. KAPOW! It knocked my socks off. ZIP! I read it so fast because it was so FREAKING AWESOME! This author, Nancy Farmer, does a FANTASTIC job developing the characters in separat...more
Last year, when I was strolling through the classroom library, I came upon this book. I saw the cover and I said, "This is the best cover ever." Others may disagree with that statement, but I'm me and I thought it looked awesome. I decided to give it a shot. BAM! It blew me away. KAPOW! It knocked my socks off. ZIP! I read it so fast because it was so FREAKING AWESOME! This author, Nancy Farmer, does a FANTASTIC job developing the characters in separat...more
5 likes
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I first read this book back a little over ten years ago on the recommendation of my English teacher. One of the best young adult book I have ever read. The best parts are all the characters are so fresh and lively, the settling is top to none. It is a book that is felt with everything for me. A book that just grabs the reader right in and never lets go. I never felt I was in Africa at all.
Farmer is a great writer that I see rise with more Middle School readers reading her later books, especially...more
Farmer is a great writer that I see rise with more Middle School readers reading her later books, especially...more
This book has taken me about a year to finish. It' odd though because the story or the writing kept drawing me back in. I found it difficult to build sympathy for the characters. The detectives hired to find the lost children are bumbling oafs and are always one step behind. The children themselves are thrust into the same scenario of "captured"/"escaped" over and over again. I can't truly explain what is missing from this book - I think it may be the lack of backstory or the inability to define...more
2 likes
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first book of 2008. what a remarkable position to hold...
i remember loving this book in middle school. still enjoyed it now, though recognized some new/questionable elements. generally good narrative and some very interesting characterizations of zimbabwe 2194. was particularly intrigued by the over-simplified but largely critical portrayal of the post-colonial race and class warfare of the southern African future... especially interesting was depiction of domestic workers and power relations i...more
i remember loving this book in middle school. still enjoyed it now, though recognized some new/questionable elements. generally good narrative and some very interesting characterizations of zimbabwe 2194. was particularly intrigued by the over-simplified but largely critical portrayal of the post-colonial race and class warfare of the southern African future... especially interesting was depiction of domestic workers and power relations i...more
What titles come to mind when you think of good book? The Hunger Games? The Hobbit? Graceling? To Kill A Mockingbird? The book I think of is the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer, because it showed some universal traits that pass through centuries, such as over protection, blind faith, and greed.
The three kids of general Matsika, Tendai, Rita, and Kuda, have never been outside their mansion in Zimbabwe. Their father has kept them there for their own protection, but the kids want to expl...more
The three kids of general Matsika, Tendai, Rita, and Kuda, have never been outside their mansion in Zimbabwe. Their father has kept them there for their own protection, but the kids want to expl...more
I didn't think The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm held a candle to Farmer's The House of the Scorpion, which I liked very much, but it was still an entertaining read and I think the young audience for which it was intended would love it. Plots that are predicated upon characters just missing one another over and over again have a tendency to drive me batty, and this was one of those, as Ear, Eye, and Arm, detectives with unusual abilities (but surprisingly little common sense) track three kidnapped c...more
NANCY FARMER CATEGORY, SCIENCE FICTION CATEGORY
This exciting science fiction novel is set in a futuristic society in Zimbabwe, where nuclear radiation has affected three particular men such that they have special abilities, and are named for these abilities. These men are the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, and their abilities correspond to those body parts. When an important government official’s three young children go missing, the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm are hired to try and track them down. The...more
This exciting science fiction novel is set in a futuristic society in Zimbabwe, where nuclear radiation has affected three particular men such that they have special abilities, and are named for these abilities. These men are the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, and their abilities correspond to those body parts. When an important government official’s three young children go missing, the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm are hired to try and track them down. The...more
So there is this show on the Travel Channel where this guy goes to exotic places and eats foods that would make most Americans barf, and he was in Madagascar eating bugs and antelope entrails and his wife, who travels with him, "got" to help the women do all the work of cooking this nasty-smelling stew and and serving the men while they sat on a blanket and told stories, and the show reminded me so much of the scene where Rita and Tendai eat their first meal in Resthaven that I had to go to the...more
This was a really (junior high level) amazing foray into ideas about identity, belonging, and cultural purity/evolution. The amazing detectives (named in the title) who discover, ultimately and by accident, the whereabouts of the Security Chief's kidnapped children are blessed/cursed with special abilities as a result of a radioactive accident in their anscestor's past. This futuristic novella dares to set itself in the (probable?) world of 22nd century Zimbabwe. Surprisingly, matters of color a...more
This futuristic novel follows the story of 3 sheltered children in Africa. Their father is an important general and has kept them inside the gates to their home their entire lives for their protection. His children decide to go on a scouting trip one day and are kidnapped and forced to become slaves for the criminal the She-Elephant. After escaping the landfill where the She-Elephant lives they find themselves in an exclusive community that practices the ancient African law. They discover that t...more
This was an interesting novel set in Zimbabwe in the future. The famous, rich, and very powerful general's children have gone missing - they've been kidnapped, and this story is about their journey to get home. The three detectives hired to help find the children are Ear, Eye, and Arm who have special abilities because their mothers drank radioactive water when they were pregnant with the three detectives. These abilities help them follow the trail of the children. There is a lot of futuristic t...more
In a futuristic Zimbabwe, the three children of a high-ranking general sneak out of their sheltered, robot-managed lives for a trip across the city. But their plans change when they are captured and taken to strange places they never imagined existed outside of their plush house. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, a detective team, are hired to find the child using their special abilities which came to them from their mothers' exposure to toxic waste while pregnant. Farmer creates truly fantastic Af...more
Like Nancy Farmer
This is a legitimately good book. Not even just good for a kids book, this is a legitimately good book all around. It paints an interesting semi-dystopian vision of the future, set in Zimbabwe 200 years after it was written. Farmer manages to weave the story and the characters richly enough that there are moments for adults to savor as well as children. There is some genuine literary interest to the book as well, particularly in how the three adult detectives from the book's title parallel the m...more
This book, set in the year 2194, shows a futuristic Zimbabwe, where the Chief of Security, General Matsika, leads a battle against the many gangs which terrorize the nation. His three children, Tendai, Rita, and Kuda are kept in a fortified mansion in Harare to ensure their security. This soon bores the children, who are seeking adventure, and they escape the house with the help of the Mellower, a man hired to use telepathic powers to entertain the family. They find themselves in the busy street...more
I will probably hear some disagreement from people who liked this book, so I'll explain my reasons for this rating. I was expecting an amazing story from a Newbery Honor Book, but I just couldn't get into this one. The structure of the future world was interesting and unusual, and the story concept - 3 kidnapped children who have to use their wits to survive - is a good one. This could have been an awesome book, but it was dragged down by several problems.
(1) The title refers to three detecti...more
(1) The title refers to three detecti...more
This is like 4 books in one. The first is the story of three kids, living a sheltered and rather boring life, who set off on a series of adventures. The second is a sci-fi look at what life might be like in a future Africa, with robots and mutants and mile high buildings. The third is a mystery with three unusual detectives searching for some kidnapped children. And the last book is a examination of what happens when modern people try to return to a traditionally tribal way of life. How much you...more
Okay, I definitely expected more from this book.
1. Where was the mystery? I thought it would be some intense plot filled with true villains who wanted to overthrow the government, or a group of outsiders who want to take revenge against the general by kidnapping his kids. I have this thing called an imagination and I thought, judging from House of the Scorpions, Farmer would be throwing some twists and turns here.
2. As much as I liked the adventure, it was just too much. They encounter scenari...more
1. Where was the mystery? I thought it would be some intense plot filled with true villains who wanted to overthrow the government, or a group of outsiders who want to take revenge against the general by kidnapping his kids. I have this thing called an imagination and I thought, judging from House of the Scorpions, Farmer would be throwing some twists and turns here.
2. As much as I liked the adventure, it was just too much. They encounter scenari...more
The story takes place 150 years from now, but the author doesn't describe the future very well, other than throwing in a few details like robo-servants and flying taxis and holophones. The 3 sheltered kids of the General of Zimbabwe leave their compound to earn an adventure badge and are immediately kidnapped, held hostage in a former toxic-waste dump by trash people, then trapped in a throwback village that follows the old ways, while at all times, they are in danger of falling prey to a fringe...more
NANCY FARMER
Tendai, Rita, and Kuda are the children of Zimbabwe's chief of security, the feared General Matsika, but they rarely leave the safety of their compound and have no companionship other than the Mellower--an entertainer/poet/historian/tutor--and the family's robot Doberman. In fact, the year is 2194, and flying vehicles have replaced the cars and buses of today; the scouting program is still going strong, however, and Tendai needs to take a journey across the city to earn his explorati...more
Tendai, Rita, and Kuda are the children of Zimbabwe's chief of security, the feared General Matsika, but they rarely leave the safety of their compound and have no companionship other than the Mellower--an entertainer/poet/historian/tutor--and the family's robot Doberman. In fact, the year is 2194, and flying vehicles have replaced the cars and buses of today; the scouting program is still going strong, however, and Tendai needs to take a journey across the city to earn his explorati...more
This book is a great mystery book! Also an Newbery Award book which makes it a double awesome mystery book. This wonderful book I am so interested about is, "The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm" by: Nancy Farmer. This book is mostly about a boy named Tendai, and his siblings go out in a adventure to get a eagle badge which means they have to go out of their fathers palace. Which he doesn't want them to do. Their father is a general. So, he has many enemies in his land. Since Tendai's father doesn't al...more
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What a unique story. The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm takes place in Zimbabwe in the year 2194 and mixes fantasy with sci-fi. The setting is unique in itself, especially considering the author, Nancy Farmer, is a white American. The novel has a lot of humor, makes references to spiritual symbols, and deals with a lot of social issues. Anything from poverty to pollution is fair game, and there's even some social critique similar to what you find in Fahrenheit 451. There's an amazing amount of conten...more
Revisited this one for old times' sake, remembering how it was all the rage when I was in middle school. Farmer has just the right ratio of futurism, cultural mysticism, political intrigue, and adventure to craft a perfect Gibson-esque sci-fi. I don't think Gibson has ever set his sights on Zimbabwe (or anywhere else in Africa) for a setting, but if he did, and if he were writing for a younger audience, it might look something like this.
Farmer's only flaw here is that she doesn't write action se...more
Farmer's only flaw here is that she doesn't write action se...more
What was going to be an exciting adventure turns into a frightening journey when General Matsika's three children are kidnapped during and outing. The worried parents call in Africa’s greatest detectives – The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm, whose special abilities come from exposure to nuclear waste. The children seem to stay just out of reach as the detectives trace them to different locations in the underbelly of the city. Will the detectives be able to find the children before it is ultimately to...more
In the 1000 or so pages of Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, there is one word choice that betrays the fact that he is writing for children. It occurs in "The Subtle Knife" as our heroes come upon a madman trying in vain to use the eponymous blade, who in his fumblings has thrown the room around him into disarray, and Pullman writes that the furnishings had been thrown about "higgledy-piggledy". This bad bit of diction is the sort that stops a reader cold. There's something so plai...more
This science-fiction novel takes place in Zimbabwe in the year 2194. The novel revolves around the three children of General Matsika—Tendai, Rita, and Kuda—and how their search for adventure leads them into more trouble than they wanted. They go from being completely protected to the most dangerous areas of the local crime infested underworld. I had to read through this book fairly quickly, which may have given me a lesser opinion of this novel, but I found it to be an odd mix of science fiction...more
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm are 3 people with some unusual skills (suggested by their names) who together operate a detective agency in Harare, Zimbabwe in the year 2194. The book title overemphasizes their importance, however, as the protagonist is the boy Tendai, along with his sister Rita and youngest brother Kuda. The 3 kids are the children of General Matsika, the head of security for the nation of Zimbabwe. The general is overly concerned about the security of his children and so he does...more
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| Aldwin's book review | 1 | 10 | Jun 17, 2008 06:01am | |
| Nadias book review | 1 | 15 | Jun 10, 2008 06:08am |
Nancy was born in 1941 in Phoenix and grew up in a hotel on the Arizona-Mexico border where she worked the switchboard at the age of nine. She also found time to hang out in the old state prison and the hobo jungle along the banks of the Colorado River. She attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, earning her BA in 1963. Instead of taking a regular job, she joined the Peace Corps and was sent to...more
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“She took to reading with a fervor so extreme, Baba Joseph had to take the books from her hands by force. 'Your eyes are not tractors. They are not meant to pull heavy loads,' he said sternly.”
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“If you squat on a path, you'll get boils on your backside.”
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May 26, 2009 08:10am