A Girl Named Disaster — Nancy Farmer

Nhamo's mother is dead, and her father is gone. When she learns that she must marry a cruel man with three wives -- before her twelfth birthday -- she runs away. Alone on the river, in a stolen boat, Nhamo is swept into the uncharted heart of a great lake. There, she battles drowning, starvation, and wild animals, and comes to know Africa's mystical, luminous spirits. Nhamo's journey will transport readers into her world, in a story that is poignant, humorous, dramatic, and extraordinary.