A Girl Named Disaster

LITERATURE CIRCLE QUESTIONS

Use these questions and activities that follow to get more out of the experience of reading A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer.

Why is Nhamo particularly afraid of leopards?

What happens in Nhamo’s village that causes them to visit the muvuki?

What circumstances lead to Nhamo fleeing to Zimbabwe? What does she expect to find there?

The muvuki knows everything about Nhamo’s village, which makes his magic seem very powerful. How else could he have learned the history and names of the people in the village?

Why might Aunt Chipo want Nhamo to be sent away? What evidence can you find that she dislikes Nhamo? Do you think Aunt Chipo was really possessed?

Choose one of the stories that Nhamo tells and explain how it relates to the situation that Nhamo is in at the time and how it demonstrates or affects Nhamo’s feelings about the situation.

Through most of her journey, Nhamo talks to spirits such as Crocodile Guts. How do the spirits help her? Discuss how they help her survive, both directly and indirectly.

How does being on her own affect Nhamo’s behavior? Choose three things that she does that she wouldn’t have done if she had stayed in the village. Would she have done them if she had a human companion?

Compare how Nhamo feels about the njuzu when she first encounters them and then at the end of her journey. Has her opinion changed? Find evidence to support your answer.

Why does Nhamo spend so long on the second island? Do you think she would have left earlier or later if the baboons hadn’t been there? What if Rumpy hadn’t been part of the troop?

Why are the people Nhamo first encounters after she reaches land suspicious of her? Imagine you encountered a person who looked and acted like Nhamo did today. Would you trust that person?

Do you think Long Teats possessed Nhamo? What evidence can you find to support or refute Nhamo’s conviction that she was possessed? What circumstances brought about Long Teats’s possessing Nhamo?

What about Dr. Masuku makes Nhamo call her “Mother”? Do you think that Nhamo really believes Dr. Masuku is her mother? Explain why. Is there a connection between what Nhamo calls Dr. Masuku and how much Nhamo believes that she is her mother?

Why does Nhamo choose to tell some people about her interactions with the spirits and not others? Select one negative and positive thing that happens as a result of her talking about the spirits. Discuss how you think it affected Nhamo’s behavior in the book and if you think it will continue to guide her in the future.

Note: The literature circle questions are keyed to Bloom’s Taxonomy: Knowledge: 1-3; Comprehension: 4-5; Application: 6-7; Analysis: 8-9; Synthesis: 10-11; Evaluation: 12-14. Activities

Create a timeline of major events in Nhamo’s life, including events that happened before the book began and where she was at the time. Project the timeline into Nhamo’s future. With your class, discuss with your ideas about Nhamo’s future.

Illustrate one of the many colorful places that Nhamo saw or visited on her travels, including its inhabitants.

Make up a folktale or story—like Nhamo did throughout the novel—to explain some aspect of your own daily life, your local culture, or human relationships.