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

This book is on the new Battle of the Books list, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Tendai, Rita, and Kuda live in Zimbabwe, in the year 2194. Their father is a powerful man, and he is overly protective, never letting them leave the estate. The children decide to sneak out for an adventure, but things quickly go wrong. They're captured by kidnappers, sold as slaves to the She Elephant, and later escape, only to be stuck in Resthaven, a primitive world with little technology. The children ping pong across the city and may never make it home.

The title refers to three detectives searching for the kids. The names refer to their senses with special powers. At one point, Arm was holding a baby and behaved strangely, because his sense of touch and emotions were bonded with it. The plot isn't especially gripping, so some readers may want more action. I think the main issue I had with the book was that I couldn't get a grip on the tone. It seemed like it was going to be a serious adventure, but then there were amusing descriptions and dialogue thrown in. The tones didn't work together for me. The climax did not include the humor, so it was better than the rest of the book.