Akata Warrior

by Nnedi Okorafor

Sunny Nwazue, 13, is continuing her training as a member of the secret Leopard Society... read more

Sunny Nwazue, 13, is continuing her training as a member of the secret Leopard Society while also still living with her family among the Lambs— nonmagical humans—in her Nigerian community. Sunny’s nightmares tell her the world is at risk, and what she sees on the news only reinforces her belief that the environmental disasters threatening Nigeria and the world are the work of the goddess Ekwensu. Ekwensu knows of Sunny, too, and in an attack separates Sunny from her spirit face, Anyanwu. Sunny is left sure she’s powerless to work juju; even worse, she’s left uncertain of who she is. Sunny must adapt to these and other unexpected events, including a threat in the human world to her brother that leads her to violate Leopard Society rules, before she and her friends Chichi, Orlu, and Sasha set off on a journey to find the place where Sunny can confront Ekwensu. Sunny, who is albino, may hold the fate of the world in her hands, but she also plays soccer, and loves (and sometimes feels at odds with) her family and friends. She is a young woman constantly navigating boundaries within and between the magic and nonmagic world in a tightly woven, complex, satisfying fantasy follow-up to Akata Witch that vividly conveys many multicultural dimensions of Nigerian society as well as the world of magic Sunny also inhabits. (Ages 10-13)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2018

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