Okorafor, N. (2011). Akata witch. New York, NY: Viking Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 978-0670011964 Kindle, $12.99.
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| Cover Photo courtesy of Goodreads.com |
Annotation: Sunny and her friends must learn to harness their juju (magical abilities) and work together to save not only their home, but the balance of nature itself.
Booktalk: What would you do if you saw the end of the world in the flame of a candle? What if that vision was real? For Sunny Nwazue, it is real. She saw the end of the world and knows it’s coming, but she doesn’t know what to do about it. Born in America to Nigerian parents who moved back to Nigeria when she was 9, Sunny is confused and hurting years later. As an albino with yellow hair, hazel eyes, cream-colored skin and Nigerian features who must always carry an umbrella to protect herself from the sun, Sunny is still looking for a place to fit in. The other students laugh at her and beat her up in the schoolyard, calling her an “akata witch.”
Booktalk: What would you do if you saw the end of the world in the flame of a candle? What if that vision was real? For Sunny Nwazue, it is real. She saw the end of the world and knows it’s coming, but she doesn’t know what to do about it. Born in America to Nigerian parents who moved back to Nigeria when she was 9, Sunny is confused and hurting years later. As an albino with yellow hair, hazel eyes, cream-colored skin and Nigerian features who must always carry an umbrella to protect herself from the sun, Sunny is still looking for a place to fit in. The other students laugh at her and beat her up in the schoolyard, calling her an “akata witch.”
The thing is, in some ways that name is true. Sunny may not be an akata – a bush animal – but she does have magic, or “juju” as the Nigerians call it. She is a Leopard Person, someone with the ability to use juju, she just doesn’t know it yet. What Sunny does know is that she doesn’t fit in anywhere and her town is being stalked by a ritual killer named Black Hat Otokoto. What will Sunny do when she finds out she is among a tiny group of Leopard People destined to fight Black Hat Otokoto?
Awards:
- 2011 James Tiptree Jr. Award Nominee
- 2011 Andre Norton Award Nominee for Young Adult Science Fiction
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