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A review by catherine_the_greatest
A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
4.0
You know how [b:Hatchet|50|Hatchet (Brian's Saga, #1)|Gary Paulsen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385297074l/50._SX50_.jpg|1158125] is about a boy who has to survive in the wilds of Canada? A Girl Named Disaster is kind of like that, except instead of a 13-year-old boy from NYC, it's about an approximately 13-year-old girl from Mozambique. While Brian is angsty because his parents are divorced and he has to spend the summer in Canada with his dad, Nhamo doesn't have parents, because her father took off before she was born and her mother was killed by a leopard when she was a toddler. Instead, she's been raised by her aunt, who always hated her mom and treats Nhamo like a slave. Only Nhamo's grandmother actually cares about her. When the family decides to marry Nhamo into a life of even more misery, her grandmother encourages her to run away to find her father's family.
My son is reading this book as part of his 7th grade language arts curriculum, along with a social studies unit on modern Africa. I've seen several comments that this is a "girl book," because the protagonist is female and there's mention of menstruation. (Deep breath.) This is a book that everyone can enjoy, that places the reader in the shoes (actually, Nhamo doesn't have shoes through most of the book) of someone from another part of the world, a completely different culture. Although it's set in 1981, after Mozambique won their independence from Portugal, Nhamo's family lives much the same way as their ancestors did a hundred years before that. It's both an immersive learning experience and an entertaining read.
Edit: Son #2 read this as an advanced 6th grader and also really enjoyed it, reinforcing my statement that this book is not. just. for. girls.
My son is reading this book as part of his 7th grade language arts curriculum, along with a social studies unit on modern Africa. I've seen several comments that this is a "girl book," because the protagonist is female and there's mention of menstruation. (Deep breath.) This is a book that everyone can enjoy, that places the reader in the shoes (actually, Nhamo doesn't have shoes through most of the book) of someone from another part of the world, a completely different culture. Although it's set in 1981, after Mozambique won their independence from Portugal, Nhamo's family lives much the same way as their ancestors did a hundred years before that. It's both an immersive learning experience and an entertaining read.
Edit: Son #2 read this as an advanced 6th grader and also really enjoyed it, reinforcing my statement that this book is not. just. for. girls.