The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

My Book Talk Club recently finished Nancy Farmer’s The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm which received the Newbery Honor Book award. They are writing this book review. As a collective group we ranked the book as 3.3 out of 5 stars. The novel takes place in the year 2194 in Zimbabwe, Africa. General Matsika’s three children run away from home to achieve a scout patch when their parents refuse to let them outside the gates of their large mansion. At home they are surrounded by automatons (robots) and all the luxury they could ever want. As soon as the children enter the market, they are kidnapped by the She Elephant’s minions and put to work in the plastic mines. General Matsika and his wife hire the best detectives – The Ear, the Eye and the Arm – they have special powers as a result of being exposed to nuclear waste as children. As the children escape from one situation to the next, they stay one step ahead of the talented detectives. The children face many challenges which include traveling to ancient Africa with its customs and folktales. Here are some of our opinions about the book…”I really liked how the author included new and descriptive words from Africa which helped me expand my vocabulary”. “I liked the way the author transitioned from one chapter to the next and how the children were always one step ahead of the detectives – it made it more exciting”. “I liked how the characters had to deal with emotional issues”. “This wasn’t my type of book”. “The beginning was confusing for me, but as I read more of the book it became clearer”. Other great books by Nancy Farmer include The House of the Scorpions, The Sea of Trolls, The Land of the Silver Apples, and The Islands of the Blessed. They also created this book trailer below.