London: Dolphin Paperback (Orion), (1996.). SIGNED - Newbery Honor-award winning book for older children and young adults. SIGNED on the title page. A marvelous book for all ages, the story of a young girl, eleven-year-old Nhamo who flees from her village and family when she is told she must marry a cruel older man with three wives. The two-day trip becomes nearly a year long struggle for survival, as she learns to escape drowning, starvation, the dangers of the forest and crocodile infested waters, and learns to cope with her aloneness, in part by coming close to the world of African spirits and the soft voice of her dead mother. National Book Award Finalist and 1997 Newbery Honor Book. Includes a glossary, a brief history of Zimbabwe and Mozambique (where the author lived for many years), and an explanation of the belief system of the Shona. 287 pp. ISBN: 185881622X.