The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

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. I've rarely read such an empowering story. But at every turn the children overcome obstacles and the evil plans of their tormentors with their wits and great courage, and a boy finds the hero in himself. They are kidnapped, enslaved, and chased.

The children face danger and adventure in the underbelly of the city. But they decide they need an adventure, so they trick their way out, and the excitement begins! The children have never been out in the real world, unprotected and alone, before. Tendai needs an explorer's badge to become an Eagle Scout, and he can get one by walking across the city - an act their father would never permit. Tendai, the eldest son, has lived both in his father's shadow and with the fear that he will never meet his father's high expectations. Rita, the middle child, is strong-willed and impetuous. Kuda, the youngest, is the family's little lion-hearted warrior. They have been safe, and their lives have been very dull. Young lives have been spent in the family compound. The general has three children, and most of their But you know what they say about the best-laid plans. He has seen the evils of crime and war, and he's determined to fight the chaos with order. He has saved his country from the enemies within - the gangs, hoodlums, and thieves - and also the enemies at the border, the Gondwannans. Amadeus Matsika is Chief of Security for the Land of Zimbabwe and he carries the weight and responsibility for the safety of 10 million citizens. It has been his iron will and unbreakable resolve that have saved Zimbabwe. The general is a stern man he has had to be. This is Africa of the future, and General Matsika's world.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer