  It’s National Authors Day! Who is your favorite author? My favorite author is Maya Angelou, but my favorite book of all time is called The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, written by Nancy Farmer. In short, the narrative is a tale of endurance, a search for knowledge and a discovery of self.
Here is a more detailed synopsis from Wikipedia: “In the year 2194, in Zimbabwe, the Chief of Security, General Matsika, leads a battle against the gangs which terrorize the nation. His three children, Tendai, Rita, and Kuda are kept in a fortified mansion to ensure their security. Seeking adventure to earn the Scout Badge, they escape the house with the help of the Mellower, a praise singer employed by their parents. The children then find themselves in the busy streets of Mbare Musika, where they are kidnapped and taken to Dead Man's Vlei, the lair of the She Elephant. There, they have to work in the plastic mines. Their parents enlist the help of the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm, three mutant detectives from a slum named the Cow's Guts. Ear has sensitive hearing; Eye has sensitive vision; Arm has extremely long arms and legs, and empathic powers, where he can sense other's feelings and see into their souls. Tendai realizes that the She Elephant is planning to sell them to the Masks, a gang who have evaded General Matsika's efforts to combat crime. The siblings escape to Resthaven, an independent country within Zimbabwe which aims to retain traditional African culture. Eventually, the children are banished from Resthaven due to heinous circumstances. The children end up in Borrowdale, a suburb created by the English tribe, where the Mellower's mother, Mrs. Horsepool-Worthingham, takes them into her care after they catch chickenpox. Tendai discovers that the Mellower's mother is holding them for ransom, and before a conflict between the woman and the children, the She Elephant captures them again and takes them to one of the Masks' secret lairs, and the Masks take the children to the Mile-High MacIlwaine, a skyscraper which houses the Gondwannan Embassy, the real headquarters of the Masks. While the Masks attempt to sacrifice Tendai as a messenger to the gods, Arm is possessed by a mhondoro, a holy and legendary spirit of the land, who helps him to find the children. When Arm is knocked out, the mhondoro helps Tendai and his friends to temporarily destroy the Big-Head Mask, which had been going to kill Tendai. When the children's parents arrive, the She Elephant crushes the Mask, and the mhondoro revives Arm. The gang is destroyed and their stolen wealth is redistributed among the poor; while General Matsika finally realizes that his children need more freedom.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ear,_the_Eye_and_the_Arm) Make sure to read up on something good for National Authors Day today!
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