YA Annotation: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorofor

Author: Nnedi Okorafor

Title: Akata Witch #1

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Publication Date: 2011

Number of Pages: 349

Geographical Setting: Nigeria

Time Period: Contemporary

Series: Akata Witch

Plot Summary: 

Sunny is an 12 year old African-American girl, born to Nigerian immigrants, who navigates the world with a few distinct disadvantages that are compounded when her family relocates back to Nigeria: she must deal with albinism in a culture that stereotypes people like her with pale skin, yellow hair and hazel eyes as evil juju practitioners, and she is an American who speaks with a funny accent. At school she is bullied, at home her father’s disappointment that she is a girl is evident. Kids at school call her an Akata, a slur, which means bush animal, or a black American or foreign born black person. After stumbling into her first vision trance that terrifies her with images of an apocalyptic future, Sunny accidentally sets her hair on fire gazing too closely into the candle. At school, her new “look” leads to more bullying and ostracism, which quickly turn into beatings after Sunny’s English teacher singles her out as an exemplary student and gives the other students beatings for their poor English skills. Sunny couldn’t feel more lost or alienated, as former friends join in the pile on, but she soon finds true friendship with Orlu, a quite thoughtful boy who reaches out to her, and his wild, sassy and quick-witted friend Chichi, who never wears shoes and lives with her single mother in a dilapidated hut furnished with piles of books. Akata Witch is a tale of self-discovery. Sunny learns that like Orlu and Chichi, she is one of Leopard people, rare individuals with magical abilities connected to the spirit world. Their magic is rooted in what seem to be their deepest or most obvious flaws. Orlu can undo bad juju, Sunny can see the future, another new friend Sasha, an African-American boy from Chicago, can summon masquerades, dangerous destructive spirits. Together, they form the youngest coven, study together to master their powers and take on a mission to defeat Black Hat Otofo, a serial killer and powerful magician who is kidnapping and sacrificing children in the area. If they can’t defeat him, Sunny’s apocalyptic visons will become reality! Lovers of YA fantasy by Rick Riordan and the classic Harry Potter will be drawn to this familiar story but love the new and exciting frame of the African setting and unfamiliar mythological and magical framework. Sunny is an important addition to the world of magically gifted protagonists, rarely if ever featured in stories like this, let alone as the lead protagonist. In her, Okorafor creates resilient, admirable and interesting heroine who must risk her life to learn how to master her powers, solve a magical mystery and save the world with her new-found friends. 

Subject Headings: Fantasy>magic> witchcraft>African myths>Nigerian folktales>

Appeal: Magically talented coming of age story line, fast paced, exciting read, unique African myth and folktale frame

3 terms that best describe this book: Engaging, well developed and interesting characters, excellent world building

Similar Authors and Works (why are they similar?):

3 Relevant Fiction Authors & Works

The Chaos (2012) by Nalo Hopkinson. Bi-racial teen Scotch, the daughter of a Black Canadian woman with Caribbean heritage and white Jamaican father, negotiates treacherous terrain as she attempts to accept herself and find her identity in Ontario. On top of all this, supernatural chaos is taking over the world. Her brother disappears in a bubble of light, people are being transformed into bizarre creatures as Chaos threatens to destroy the world. Readers who enjoyed Akata Witch for its fresh take on magical worlds and world building based on African myths and folk tales will appreciate the Caribbean folk tale elements, and readers looking for diversity in their heroines will enjoy following Scotch in this surreal adventure.

Half World -Half World #1- (2009) by Hiromi Goto: Melanie is the human child of limbo dwellers, residents of the Half World, a mysterious realm between the world of the living and the afterlife. When her mother disappears, she must go on a quest to save her, but will she survive? This work shares the appeal elements of a strong female protagonist who has her feet in two different worlds and must confront shocking information about her identity and overcome magical obstacles to survive and save her loved ones.

Cinder: The Lunar Chronicles #1: Cinder is an outsider in her world, a cyborg, with very special abilities. A retelling of a familiar European fairytale (Cinderella) with a sci-fi twist and futuristic Asian setting. Readers who appreciate Okorafor’s attention to social injustice, and the fresh take of her non-Eurocentric setting will like reading about Cinder’s journey towards self-acceptance and her struggles.

3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works

Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wiwa (2012). Part travelogue and part memoir, English raised Nigerian author Saro-Wiwa explores her ancestral homeland and confronts difficult past traumas. Nnedi Okorafor, author of Akata Witch loved this book. Her goodreads review:

Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folk-tales From the Gulf States, by Zora Neal Hurston (1891-1960). Celebrated African American author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston ,was a Barnard educated folklorist and anthropologist as well as an American literary icon. She  famously travelled to Haiti and Jamaica for her epic study Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica. In this work she explores the Gulf coast to record African American folk tales. This work not only tells the classic folk tales but also reflects the then contemporary black views in the rural south, black culture and attitudes of the black community towards these traditional stories. Readers who are intrigued by the dual worlds occupied by Nnedi's African American heroine Sunny may be interested to explore how the descendants of enslaved Africans intermingled traditional African folk tropes with their American experience to create a unique body of folk lore. Zora Neale Hurston's rich retelling and her obvious respect for the subject and the story tellers imbues this work with a unique point of view that may be absent from works written and compiled by Europeans and white Americans.

The Orphan Girl And Other Stories: West African Folk Tales (2001) by Buchi Offodile. This collection of thirty folk tales from all over the continent of Africa will interest readers who want to learn more about African folklore that inspires Okorafor's Akata Witch series.

SaveSave