The Ear, the Eye and the Arm
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| Author | Nancy Farmer |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children's, Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Orchard Books |
| Released | April 1994 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 311 (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-531-06829-3 (first edition, hardback) |
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm is a Newbery Honor book written by Nancy Farmer. It takes place in Zimbabwe in the year 2194.
[edit] Plot Summary
Tendai, Rita, and Kuda are children of the General Matsika, Zimbabwe's chief of security who recently purged the country of gangs. Because their father is an important political figure, the three kids grow up in isolation. The oldest child, Tendai, is the protagonist of the book. He is thought soft by his father and other instructors, as Tendai dislikes violence and is very sensitive to the pain of others. Kuda, on the other hand, has a fighting spirit, and Rita is a brilliant mathemetician who is generally cranky. The only other human in the household, other than their parents, is a blond white man simply known as the "Mellower." The Mellower's job is to deliver Praise to the family, sending the family into a psuedo-state of hypnosis. His desire to to please everyone renders him an ineffective guardian, but the parents are unaware of this. This is especially apparent when the three children decide to explore the city by themselves. The Mellower hypnotized the General using praise and while the General was in his state of hypnosis, persuaded him to sign their permission forms to go into the city, as they wanted to earn their scout badges.
Their first stop is Mbare Musika, a food market bustling with shady people. Within minutes, they get kidnapped by two men and the Blue Monkey. The men, Knife and Fist, and the Blue Monkey are accomplices of the She Elephant, who runs Dead Man's Vlei, a vast wasteland inhabited by the vlei people who follow her every command. She plans to sell the children to the Masks, one of the worst gangs in all of Harare, to make a nice profit. In the mean time, she makes them mine for plastic, a rarity in 2194.
Back in Harare, Mother and General Matsika discover their children have gone missing and quickly enlist the help of the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, three detectives. The three men have powers beyond those of other human beings. Eye has incredible vision, Ear can hear things from a mile away, and Arm can sense other people's emotions.
The children manage to escape Dead Man's Vlei and then become trapped in the city of Resthaven, an isolated country with old beliefs and no technology. The children again escape and catch a bus that is attacked by the She Elephant. Rita is feeling ill, so the children decide to go to the closest friendly place they know of, which happens to be the home of the Mellower's mother.
Meanwhile, the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm are continuing their search for the children, but they always arrive just after the children leave. They sneak into the Dead Man's Vlei and are pursued by the She Elephant, but they escape. They then break into the city of Resthaven and pretend to be bogeymen and rescue a baby, but the children have already been expelled.
At the Mellower's mother's house, all three children come down with chicken pox. The mother claims that she is unable to contact the children's parents, General Matsika and his wife, because they have travelled abroad. In reality, as Tendai soon discovers, the Mellower's mother is holding the children for a reward. Although the General is not offering a reward, the Mellower's mother is trying to convince her son to hypnotize the General during Praise and tell him to offer a reward. As soon as Tendai discovers this, he engineers a plan with Rita to escape, but just as Tendai and Rita are putting their plan into action, the She Elephant breaks into the house and captures the three children once again. This time, the She Elephant heads straight for the Masks' headquarters to sell the children.where Tendai is almost used as a sacrifice to contact the Masks' gods. Their mother and a small army of chefs and rich people rescue Tendai and his siblings from the Masks'.
After other trials and tribulations, they finally reunite with their parents.
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