The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm

by Nancy Farmer

The year is 2174. The place is Zimbabwe, Africa. Three adventurous children escape their parents’ heavily guarded mansion to explore the dangerous world outside. They soon learn how dangerous it really is. Tendai, the oldest boy, is their leader, although he worries about being brave enough. Rita, his sister, is an expert at starting fights. Kuda, his little brother, is willing to try anything. They are quickly enslaved in a plastic mine ruled by the terrifying She Elephant and her army of vlei people. Vlei people have been living in the dump so long they look like piles of trash. The children flee them to find new perils. They are pursued by the Ear, the Eye and the Arm, detectives hired by the children’s parents, who always seem to arrive too late. The worst danger of all lies at the top of the Mile High MacIlwaine, a hotel so tall that it sways like a tree in the wind. For up there are not merely humans, but spirits whose aim is to devour the souls of Zimbabwe.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Adventure

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

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 India (1963-1965). When she returned, she moved into a commune in Berkeley, sold newspapers on the street for a while, then got a job in the Entomology department at UC Berkeley and also took courses in Chemistry there. Restless, again, she decided to visit Africa. She and a friend tried to hitchhike by boat but the ship they'd selected turned out to be stolen and was boarded by the Coast Guard just outside the Golden Gate Bridge. Nancy eventually got to Africa on a legal ship. She spent more than a year on Lake Cabora Bassa in Mozambique, monitoring water weeds. Next she was hired to help control tsetse fly in the dense bush on the banks of the Zambezi in Zimbabwe. Part of the time she spent in the capital, Harare, and was introduced to her soon-to-be husband by his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. He proposed a week later. Harold and Nancy now live in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona on a major drug route for the Sinaloa Cartel. This is the setting for The Lord of Opium. They have a son, Daniel, who is in the U.S. navy.
Nancy's honors include the National Book Award for The House of the Scorpion and Newbery Honors for The Ear, the Eye and The Arm, A Girl Named Disaster and The House of the Scorpion. She is the author of nine novels, three picture books and a number of short stories. Her books have been translated into 26 languages.

Reviews

[Marielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 stuck onto the story. She could have easily written the book, and then put them all in later. "Hmmm... I should replace the maid with a ... robot maid!" and "Hmmm... instead of being a skyscraper, I will make this building a MILE HIGH! HA! Bet they never saw that one coming!"

Really, the book is a novel steeped in the religious traditions of Zimbabwe. I think adding in the random sci-fi elements really detracts from that, but the book still manages to be pretty good.

[Brendan W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 separate areas and bringing them together in the climax. The chase scenes were off the hook, and the book was filled to the brim with suspense. The plot is original, it is set in a unconventional future where they combine the cultures of the past with the technology of tomorrow, and it just plain ROCKS! 5 STARS!

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really appreciated that the fact that this SF novel was set in Zimbabwe and actually incorporated myths and traditions from Zimbabwean culture into the story -- very few SF novels take place in non-Western settings and feature non-white protagonists, almost no teen SF novels do this. Another strong point was the nuanced depiction of Resthaven, the seemingly idyllic throwback to premodern Africa hidden in the heart of the city -- Farmer deftly demonstrates to young readers that it is foolish to romanticize the pre-modern past in the bush as an escape from the "evils" of modern urbanity. The storytelling was not quite as strong as "House of the Scorpion" and the characterizations of the other children (Kuda and Rita) were weak; but those flaws aside it was a great read.

[Kevin Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 House of Scorpion. I just really wished that more readers read this book!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I’m in a bit of a reading slump, because even this middle-grade book took far too long for me to read. I’m on a vague quest to read Newbery books that I haven’t before, though, so I was glad to round out my collection with this. Mostly, I’m so impressed that this was so diverse for a book published in the 1990s, because it’s a nice piece of Afro-futurism, entirely set in Zimbabwe, with an almost all-black cast and some historically-grounded mystical elements etc.

It reminded me a bit of A Series of Unfortunate Events, in terms of three siblings out on their own, in peril, and going through a succession of absolutely useless or dangerous adults as they careen from place-to-place, temporary guardian to temporary guardian. Along the way, they’re followed by a trio of superpowered detectives tasked with bringing them home to their parents.

The prose just didn’t hook me, because it’s somewhat flat/straight-forward in the common way of middle-grade, but I know that I probably would’ve loved this if I’d read it as a kid. 3.5 stars, rounded up mainly for the appendices at the end, where Nancy Farmer provides a bit of valuable non-Western worldbuilding and historical context (which would be so valuable for kids to learn about, imo). She lived in Mozambique and Zimbabwe for a while, so it seems like she’s tried to handle the cultural elements as sensitively and accurately as she could.

[Greta · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really annoyed me. In my opinion it had an underbelly of fear and disrespect for Africa that was masked by a story narrative that was good in many respects...(don't let that fool you). Some of the most memorable images of this book include: grown African men peeing in their loincloths when they become startled by a boy, back to African community members eating fried mice,African people hating women, and African people killing babies. The big baddies of the book are dark, gangs of people called Masks who travel in packs and attack things like subways.All is saved when the giant mask gets destroyed. I think Nancy Farmer has some unresolved issues that were played out in this book. Those I realize that many people love this book...I know just as many that hated it for the same reasons that I did.

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 plot changes effectively. I'm left with the feeling that this could have been a great story, but it fell way short on delivery. I will not recommend to friends, in fact, I may just donate it to the library.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young adult novel? Check. Zimbabwean backwoods journey? Check. Cyberpunk futurist setting? Check. You don't get a lot of books that hit all three of those points- this may be the only one. As a fifth grader I wasn't entirely sure what to make of this novel, but it grew on me as I read. There are elements I remember to this day: the house full of taxidermies; the mile-high hotel skyscraper; the multiethnic mutated detectives. The writing isn't entirely polished, but this book still gets high points for originality, especially when, fifteen years later, YA has become a series of generic cookie-cutter dystopias.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bizarre story, but fairly well done.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

In my opinion this book is proof that not all Newbery books are good. I didn't like the characters, thought the plot was ridiculous, and really don't know why this was named after the three detectives when the majority of the book centered on the missing children, not the detectives. In the last week I've made myself read 25 pages a day to finish. I'm giving it two stars instead of one because I really liked the first 40 pages or so.

I'm hoping that I have a different experience when I revisit Nancy Farmer in the future with "The House of the Scorpion."

Popsugar 2021-An afrofuturist book

[Julia J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book that I would have LOVED and been so invigorated by as a kid but as an adult I was so stressed out and the whole time I was like “can we please return these children to a responsible adult??” But overall it was such an interesting journey, such a wonderful call to goodness and bravery, and despite being “sci-fi” was drenched in a clearly rich history and spirituality. I love a book that is written with a specific audience in mind, and in the preface the author states that she wrote this for her students as something they would hopefully enjoy. It is clear that this was a labor of love, and I loved getting a small glimpse of Zimbabwe through this fantastical children’s novel.

[Tom Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 for grownups, 5 stars for kids.

N.B. Of the eponymous trio, the title uses an Oxford comma but the rest of the book does not.

[Jackie B. - Death by Tsundoku · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Zimbabwe, 2194, Farmer crafts a future Africa which has conquered the globe. Zimbabwe plays host to communities segregated by wealth and culture, such as the African Shona tribe and the English or Portuguese tribes. Famer's Zimbabwe is a rising power, largely critical of the post-colonial race the country currently is experiencing. In fact, race and skin color are barely addressed in this book at all. Instead, Farmer explores ideas of personal, cultural, and spiritual identity with superficial science-fiction elements only really critical to set the futuristic tone of this world.

Tendai and Arm are the only two characters in this book who seem to develop and avoid conforming to a single type. Not that the other characters are flat or uninteresting-- they just don't grow. The magic in the characters Farmer has developed are in their realism. Almost everyone has both "good" and "bad" traits. Often selfish, rarely noble, occasionally compassionate. The world Tendai and Arm inhabit is populated with very realistic characters.

The most intriguing part of this story to me is the tie to the spiritual. The crisis of identity both Tendai and Arm are experiencing covers many facets. The personal and familial are fairly common themes for YA literature. However, the ideas of cultural and spiritual identity are not-- particularly when they are so closely tied to each other. The spiritual element introduced early on seems inconsequential, but this single thread grows and grows all the way to the climax of the book. Concepts, such as an ancestor's affinity for a skill gives rise to their descendants sharing that ability through spiritual possession, seem little more than cultural tradition. Yet, the concept that these ideals are not mere superstition follows the reader throughout the book-- even to the climax.

A unique and fascinating book, The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is a great introduction to science fiction or fantasy for young readers. A bit repetitive, and with some themes challenging for the age to appreciate, but a wonderful coming-of-age story.

[Mikhail · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always a risk to go and re-read something you read as a kid. What if the writing is bad? What if the ideas have aged poorly? What if you hate it? This makes it all the more significant when you find, instead, that this is better than you remember.

There's quite a lot to chew in this book, but I'll mention two aspects. First, this is very much a kind of Boy's First Cyberpunk. Actually, I might say it's one of the best examples of the genre, if not precisely what people think of when they use the term. But it's got massive wealth inequality, arcologies, rampant crime and urban decay, genetic engineering and mutation... some of the other reviewers have groused that this isn't Sci-fi, and that's true. It's not Sci-fi, it's cyberpunk. At the same time, Farmer renders the genre much more accessible and enticing than the usual classics of the genre.

The second aspect that comes to the eye is the way that Farmer handles the idea of an African cyberpunk or an African future. She changes the perspective so we are always seeing through the eyes of black characters, and then she uses the fact that this is the far future to normalize it. The English and the Portuguese are just one more tribe like the Shona and the Xhosa as far as our characters are concerned, with habits not more or less weird than the rest. (I snickered way too much at the garden gnomes, but I shan't spoil it any further). The same normalization applied to the very matter-of-fact way that African spirits and myths were presented. "Well, duh, he's possessed by a spirit with a passion for storytelling." Overall I found the approach quite refreshing -- rather than make an argument that African perspectives matter, Farmer simply assumes that of course they do and builds the story from there.

Ultimately, loved this book to bits, and heartily recommend it to anyone who wants more good cyberpunk or African-focused stories in their lives, no matter the age.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great memories of this book, if only because it was so different from anything else I'd read at age 12 or so. I'd hate to read it again and have those memories ruined, but I still kind of want to. Because dystopian Zimbabwe, supernatural detectives, and spirits in masks.

[Keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED IT

[Leona Fischer]

I can't say I liked this book. But it was fun and weird.

[Kori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book a lot - the author tried to pay homage to real traditions and beloefs as much as possible. My main gripe with the book is that the villains seem unnecessarily vile and vicious without any depth.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sat on my to-read shelf for a while, and it shouldn't have, because it's one of the best young adult novels I've read in a while. It's set in Zimbabwe in 2194, where the three children of the powerful General Matsika are forbidden to leave their home for fear of kidnapping. Longing to experience the outside world, the three children figure out how to get out...and disappear. Their parents call in an unusual set of detectives, three people whose unusual physical characteristics have been produced by exposure to nuclear waste. They are the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, and they pursue the children from the crowded marketplace through the toxic waste dump called Dead Man's Vlei to the seemingly safe suburbs and the Mile-High MacIlwaine Hotel.

Farmer mixes African folklore and tradition with a futuristic environment to create something simply fantastic. The children, brought up in restricted safety, learn about the old culture of Zimbabwe and the new culture; I particularly liked how they see the English residents as strange outsiders. The pacing is excellent, as Farmer cuts back and forth between the kids and the detectives, keeping the tension and the interest level high in both threads until they finally meet in the book's climax. And I really loved the characters, who are portrayed both sympathetically and wittily; the bizarrely talented detectives particularly could easily be over the top, but they're just as human as anyone in the book.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 library to see if this awesome story held up like I remembered it. The answer is yes, it does. Something I didn't realize before was how good the pacing of the novel is - Nancy Farmer moves the action along, never spending too long in one location, but the story never feels rushed. I'm surprised this hasn't been made into a children's movie yet; it has a good structure for a screenplay, employs African folklore that hasn't been touched by Disney (The Lion King doesn't count) and has a genuine happy ending to boot.

As a kid's book, this should be five stars, but as an adult I need to give it a four. Unlike E.L. Konigsberg, who has a style so unique that it stil appeals to me now, Farmer's prose is clearly written for young readers, at a level similar to Harry Potter. It made me think that maybe I shouldn't give Stephanie Meyer such a hard time for her lousy writing style- the difference between writing for smart 12 year olds and mediocre 14 year olds isn't so big.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 are far less important, in this text, than matters of identity--both cultural or personal. A young boy (14) embarks on as almost accidental adventure when he and his two younger siblings dare to leave the carefully constructed compound of his caring parents' design. From seamy underworlds to past-times utopias to decaying English suburbs and demonic lairs, the children learn that they are not only valuable, but trustworthy. Throughout, a simpleton leads three "privileged" children through a journey of discovery and redemption. A really great read!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know whether to say you shouldn't judge this book by it's straight-outta-the-90s cover or that you should. It's loud, futuristic and fun, which is true to the story, but it leaves out a lot of the darker, spiritual themes in this afro-centric, sci-fi middle school adventure. Not to mention that the main characters are nowhere in sight (although the blue monkey is a nice touch).

The story is about 3 upper class kids living a couple hundred years in the future where Africa is now the political capital of the world. There are holophones, hovercraft and robot servants, but there are also praise singers, spiritual mediums and potential witches. In an effort to achieve a scout merit badge, the three kids wind up getting kidnapped and from there jump from adventure to adventure encountering plastic mines, the African version of the Amish, attempted infanticide, various gangs, the English tribe, and the terrifying Masks.

Meanwhile, they are being sought after by three scruffy, plutonium-mutated detectives with extra-sensory abilities.

If that sounds kind of weird and hodge podge, it is. Buuut it's also super fun and unusual and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-reading. Holds up pretty well, but I remembered a lot more of this book taking place in the garbage dump. There was no reason for this to take place in the future, the robots were weirdly ancillary to the story which could easily be set in an alternate universe with magic.

[Margaret Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really fun to revisit this unique book that I read as a kid. Sci-fi in Zimbabwe with mutant detectives?? So original.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 scenario one, escape, bump into scenario two, escape, learn a few life lessons or so, and step into scenario three without a moment’s hesitation. Granted, the transitions were good, but some of the events that took place simply didn’t need to happen. It took time away from the core of the novel.

3. The children’s adventure clashed with the detective’s storyline so much that I failed to see the connection except the highly stressed point that they were supposed to find the children. They only interact at the very end. It’s like reading two very messy stories intertwined into one where the plot is the same: they ALMOST run into each other, but the children are just one step further away. This cycle annoyed me to no end. I feel cheated somehow. I picked up this book with the idea that Ear, Eye, and Arm could do wonders with their messed up genetics, but the story didn’t even stress their powers. It was obvious who Ear and Eye was, but I thought, initially, Arm had super strength or could stretch. It was only halfway through the book that I finally understood that Arm’s powers were a mix of empathy and mind reading.

4. I really wanted a more in depth description about what had changed in the future: the gadgets, the genetically altered monkey, the robots, and the idea of “utopia” AKA a world without diseases and gang activity.

Nonetheless, I still liked it.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 enjoy this book seems to depend on how much you like any or all of those kinds of stories.

We read this for book club, and I enjoyed it more than anyone else. Some of the other readers admitted that they weren't fans of science fiction, or that they had a hard time imagining that kind of future world. But I guess I was caught up in the adventure of the story and didn't worry too much about how it all worked together. It just sort of worked, for me. I really liked Tendai, the oldest of the three kids whose trip to the city sets off the whole chain of events. I admit that it was a bit much to believe that they just continued from one set of adventures to the next, falling into the wrong hands at every turn, and somehow managing to escape. But I didn't care much. I liked it anyway. I liked that we got to see how Tendai grew from an insecure, serious boy who only wants to please his father into someone who cares about his brother and sister, who wants to protect them, and isn't afraid to save himself.

I would recommend this one. Yes, there's a lot going on, but it seems like you either like it or you don't, and it's hard to predict which it's going to be. I wouldn't have picked it up at all if it hadn't been for book club, and I really enjoyed it. 4 stars

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried of being trapped in a Zambabwe mansion by overprotective parents, Tendai (13), Rita (11), and Kuda (4) set out on an adventure for scouts. A kidnapping changes the path without ending the adventure while also involving dectectives Ear, Eye, and Arm.

I liked parts of it - like plastic being collectible - but loads of other stuff was eh.

The dad's overprotective nature came on too strong; I didn't need a comment made about both that and his hidden love for his children every single time he spoke.

I didn't like the dectectives nor did I like how inept they were (all three jumping up the moment they recognize a woman they were looking for in a bar - one going for the phone and yelling about calling the police while the others dive for the table? yeah, nice stealth. I'm sure the top general in the country would hire you and only you.) Some parts of the future setting worked but a good deal was just flying limos with some robots jammed in.

Also - I don't see myself as a prude, but an 11 year old making an orgy joke on page 10? Really? It wasn't funny but instead seemed incredibly out of place and character:

"Who cares how the Romans built their roads?" she grumbled. They should have all stayed home and had orgies" (10.)

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book back when I was a kid. Cyberpunkish scifi in 22nd century Zimbabwe, with heroic kids, mutant detectives, evil criminals. You can never really go back, so does this book hold up? Well, yes and no.

I didn't realize how much I'd appreciate the main character, Tendai, and his relationship with his younger siblings as he tries to protect them. The future African setting is also well-imagined; as a rising power and real nation that has reach an accord with the legacy of colonialism. Farmer worked in Zimbabwe for years, the the magical-religious elements with spirit possession and witchcraft really kick the story up a notch.

On the minus side, the plot of captivity-escape-captivity is a little repetitive and didactic; a rising series of challenges for Tendai to overcome. The titular mutant detectives are also kind of a dud, speaking with identical voices and rarely using their powers to good effect. In a post -Harry Potter and Hunger Games world, the standards for YA fiction have moved.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I am one for whom dangers are playthings
One who empties men of their strength
As a nut from its shell
The charms you use I chop up
For relish on my porridge
Beware!
I am a deadly mamba!
Wrestler of leopards,
A hive of hornets,
A man among men!"

—Traditional African warrior boast, The Ear, the Eye and the Arm, P. 268

Nancy Farmer always seems to write magnificent tales full of solid, knowable characters and a lively plot that thickens and twists at unexpected spots. This book is an early example of the writing genius that consistently marks her stories. It is exceptional.

"[W]ith courage, you weren't afraid to look at the truth. You weren't afraid to ask questions or do the right thing."

—The Ear, the Eye and the Arm, P. 296

[Phil J · Rating 2 out of 5]

About half as good as The House of the Scorpion. I might have liked this book more if I didn't know that Farmer is capable of better.

There is an inescapable PG-ness to the plot that lowers the stakes of the whole book. There is really no doubt about where the character arcs will end and how the story will turn out. As a result, the setting has to carry the interest level of the whole book. Farmer does put out some amazing settings, with some great commentary on the pros and cons of different cultures and ways of thinking. I just wish that the characters and situations were more suspenseful.