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Popular Answered Questions

Gorokh Antin akata
Contrary to popular opinion among non-Yorubas and some Nigerians or Africans who does not understand this word, akata does not mean coton picker …more akata
Contrary to popular opinion among non-Yorubas and some Nigerians or Africans who does not understand this word, akata does not mean coton picker or slave and it is not derogatory.
It means a cat that doesn't live at home like a wild non domesticated cat, this is used to reference mostly African Americans as they are considered Africans by all Africans but the fact that they don't live in Africa make them akata while those of us who live at home can be considered as Ologbo (cat).

It is no different from an African American calling his buddies "cat" , it is just that the Yorubas recognize the fact that this is a cat that isn't at home.

I am Yoruba who also studied Yoruba in high school and have a better understanding of this word than any none Yoruba or Yoruba who have never studied Yoruba as a language.

It is also another word used to identify Africans who have visited America.
On a recent visit back to Nigeria, a friend was asked about the Iraq war and he directed the question to his friend another Nigerian who was visiting home from America.

" why are you asking me that?, ask the akata here , he can answer it"

The Nigerian have also become an akata because he no longer lives at home.

This is a Yoruba word and only a Yoruba can truly know what it means, for more information search online for Yoruba dictionary, then email the Yorubas listed on the contact page for meaning of akata and they may be able to help you further.
by Waheed ALABEDE March 13, 2007(less)

Ruth Fitts I think of this as young adult...not that there is anything inappropriate for a younger child, but I would recommend it for 12 & up.

Community Reviews

·  29,797 ratings  ·  4,938 reviews

Start your review of Akata Witch (The Nsibidi Scripts #1)

Nov 07, 2013 Rick Riordan rated it really liked it

I spent the weekend with a great book: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. As you can guess, I’m a sucker for all kinds of mythology, and this middle grade/YA fantasy is steeped in the myth and magic of Nigeria.
Our main character is Sunny, a twelve-year-old girl born in the U.S. but recently moved to her parents’ homeland of Nigeria. Sunny stands out in more ways than one – she’s albino, she’s a prodigy at soccer, and she’s teased at school for being an akata (literally a ‘wild animal’) because she i
I spent the weekend with a great book: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. As you can guess, I’m a sucker for all kinds of mythology, and this middle grade/YA fantasy is steeped in the myth and magic of Nigeria.
Our main character is Sunny, a twelve-year-old girl born in the U.S. but recently moved to her parents’ homeland of Nigeria. Sunny stands out in more ways than one – she’s albino, she’s a prodigy at soccer, and she’s teased at school for being an akata (literally a ‘wild animal’) because she is from America. Sunny also has to deal with her family’s complicated past. Her grandmother, whom Sunny never met, was a mysterious figure that Sunny’s mother refuses to talk about, and Sunny’s parents aren’t exactly clear about why they decided to move Sunny back to Nigeria.

Then one night during a blackout, Sunny stares into a candle’s flame and sees a horrifying vision of the end of the world. This is the first sign that Sunny is not like other kids. Her powers have begun to awaken.

Soon, Sunny makes three new friends who introduce her to the secret world of magic. There is Orlu, her classmate, a kind-hearted boy who has a natural talent for undoing juju spells. There is Chichi, a girl with a smart mouth and a quick wit, who doesn’t go to school and lives in a tiny hut with her strange mother and hundreds of books. Then there is Sasha, an African American boy from Chicago, who was sent to Nigeria for corrective education after terrorizing his classmates back home with an evil spirit – a masquerade.

Sunny learns that she is one of the Leopard People, a subset of humans who have strong links to the spirit world. The Leopards (as opposed to the Lambs, regular people) have their own society, with centers of juju learning throughout the world. In Nigeria, their town is called Leopard Knocks, and can only be reached by crossing an invisible bridge over a magical river.

As Sunny begins to master her own powers, she realizes the world is a much more incredible and dangerous place than she imagined. Even the simplest lesson – like visiting a teacher’s house in a forest – could be fatal – and Sunny quickly realizes that she and her three friends are being trained to work as a team for a vital mission. A serial killer is on the loose: Black Hat Otokoto, who is stealing and killing children, often removing their eyes in the process. If that’s not creepy enough, Black Hat is secretly a powerful magician working the most evil kind of juju with human sacrifices. If Sunny and her friends can’t stop him, Sunny’s apocalyptic vision will come true. Can four young Leopard People master enough magic and learn to work together to stop a killer? The answer is by no means certain.

The book’s premise may sound familiar – a secret society of magic practitioners in the modern world, a group of friends who must master their powers to stop a terrible evil sorcerer. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Leopard People vs. Lambs is just a takeoff on Wizards vs. Muggles, or Demigods vs. Mortals, or any number of other fantasies in which the heroes find they are special and magical. Sure, Akata Witch has some structural similarities (I particularly loved the fact that ADHD and dyslexia may be signs that you are a Leopard Person – great minds think alike, etc.) but Okorafor’s book is firmly rooted in West African myth, which opens up a world as wondrous as Hogwarts but as different as pepper soup is from tea and crumpets.

There are too many wonders in this book to describe them all: an artist wasp that builds sculptures out of crumbs and will sting you unless you praise its skill; a juju-powered bus called the funky train, driven by a fast-cussing man named Jesus’s General; a sorceress who lives in a hut at the top of a palm tree; juju knives that can cut pockets out of the air, summon music or carve force fields; and horrible spirits called masquerades, who appear from termite mounds and wield powers so terrible they will kill you or drive you insane if not summoned properly.

In the world of Leopard People, money is called chittim, and can only be gained by learning. Whenever you cast a new spell or find out something important about your powers, magic money literally falls from the sky – copper the most valuable, gold the least valuable. Any video game fan will appreciate the idea of coins appearing when you defeat an enemy, and personally I felt like chittim fell at my feet whenever I learned about a new monster, spirit or god from Nigerian myth – which happened a lot.

I used to teach a unit on African folklore in my classroom, but it’s such a huge subject I never really got to do it justice. We would read the animal fables of the Ashanti from Ghana and learn the adinkra symbols. We would read Yoruba myths from Nigeria and learn about the ancient gold-rich kingdoms. We would eventually work our way down to the DR Congo and I would tell the heroic epic of Mwindo from the Nyanga people (Nkuba the lightning hedgehog – best character ever). Still, there are so many cultures in West Africa alone, one could spend a whole year learning stories of gods and heroes and only scratch the surface.

If you’re tiring of knights, dragons and Merlin-type wizards and are interested in exploring a fresh and different world of magic, try Akata Witch. It’s jam-packed with mythological wonders. Because it is so rich and so different from standard Euro-fantasy fare, some readers may take a little time getting oriented and keeping all the details straight, but it’s well worth the journey. Best of all, the book hints at future adventures for Sunny and her friends. I can’t wait to read more!
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We embrace those things that make us unique or odd. For only in these things can we locate and then develop our most individual abilities.

Sunny was born in New York, but recently moved back to her homeland (Aba, Nigeria) and that transition has not been easy.
She's bullied for her "American-ness", her weirdness and above all, for her skin, she's an albino African American.

All Sunny wants is to do what other, normal, twelve-year-olds can do - play soccer in the sun, laugh with a bun

We embrace those things that make us unique or odd. For only in these things can we locate and then develop our most individual abilities.

Sunny was born in New York, but recently moved back to her homeland (Aba, Nigeria) and that transition has not been easy.
She's bullied for her "American-ness", her weirdness and above all, for her skin, she's an albino African American.

All Sunny wants is to do what other, normal, twelve-year-olds can do - play soccer in the sun, laugh with a bunch of friends and be accepted for who she is.
Instead, she is bullied.

Bullied by the kids at school, by her brothers at home and by her father (who wishes she was a boy).

But, then one day, Orlu and Chichi come into her life, followed by Sasha.

Sunny learns that she is of the ancient race called Leopard People, who draw their strength from their greatest weaknesses (i.e. Sunny's albino complexion makes her weak to the sun. This actually becomes a huge asset).

Meanwhile, a man called Black Hat Otokoto is carving his way across Nigeria - taking one child victim after another for his black magic.

Sunny, Orlu, Chichi and Sasha form an Oha Coven with only one desire - to stop Otokoto.

Will they manage it in time? Or die trying?

There will be danger; some of you may not live...It's a risk you take. This world is bigger than you...
There were many things that I loved about this novel - it felt so uniquely crafted and the world building was fun and exciting.
I thought the magic system was clever and enjoyed how knowledge was seen as the topmost goal of everyone in the Leopard People society.

Okorafor merged the ancient magic of Africa with the modern world in an intricate and fun way.

However, this book didn't 100% work for me.

Was it just me or did any one else notice the similarities to Harry Potter?

There's a secret school that Sunny is forbidden from mentioning to her family, there's various levels of magical examinations required before you can use magic in the real world (etc).

There was even a scene where Sunny goes to a secret market (hidden from "lamb" (muggle) eyes) where she meets a mysterious knife seller... and the knife chooses the Akata Witch...

Was it just me, or did the kids seem really... weird?

Sunny & Co felt like they were around 16-17 and yet they were actually supposed to be around 12 to 13. And they had the emotional range of a teaspoon.

For the most part, they were doing things they seemed more in line for high schoolers (i.e. one of the boys used magic to tighten the fabric and push up 12-year-old Chichi's breasts).

And, they never felt emotions.

For example, their little gang watched a man get murdered right before their eyes.... only immediately go play the most drawn out and pointless impromptu soccer game ever.

Someone pointed out that it could be cultural differences...but two of the main ones came from America and everyone (equally) didn't care about witnessing murder. They just skipped off to play soccer.

Was it just me, or did the bickering make you want to pull out your hair and scream too?

The one thing that did feel very age-appropriate for the kids was bickering.

I love a little banter but when 50% of interactions were just the main characters infighting, it became wearisome.

I just stopped caring because of the effort it took to follow along with the fighting.

Was it just me, or is anyone else PISSED about the albino thing?

It really bugged me when Sunny's sun sensitivity was magically cured (Something to do with her leopard people blood...)

It bothered me because:

1) According to the book's lore, Leopard People are supposed to embrace their flaws and gain power from them.

Leopard People are supposed to love their physical shortcomings, so why in the world would the author erase them? Why not show your character adjusting and overcoming?

2) Can YA (and books in general) GET OVER the trope where every medical flaw has to be healed for happiness?

Thousands of albinos are out there in the world, and finally (FINALLY) there's a book starring a main character with albinism.

...but then the author magically cures the negative physical traits while leaving her main character with the "cool" traits (unusual skin/ eye tones).

I want a book where the author doesn't wave her magic pen and ONLY THEN the sick or abnormal main character experiences life.

Just my two cents.

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Apr 23, 2018 J.L. Sutton rated it really liked it

“We embrace those things that make us unique or odd. For only in these things can we locate and then develop our most individual abilities.”

What is really compelling about Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch wasn't the plot (which is solid), but the sense that you were reading about a totally different magical world which exists alongside a reality which is equally unfamiliar (in Nigeria). Okorafor draws from Nigerian folk beliefs and rituals, and lets us into this world little by little as our protago
“We embrace those things that make us unique or odd. For only in these things can we locate and then develop our most individual abilities.”

What is really compelling about Nnedi Okorafor's Akata Witch wasn't the plot (which is solid), but the sense that you were reading about a totally different magical world which exists alongside a reality which is equally unfamiliar (in Nigeria). Okorafor draws from Nigerian folk beliefs and rituals, and lets us into this world little by little as our protagonist discovers her own unique abilities. Some reviewers have compared the novel to J.K. Rowling's first Harry Potter book and (in terms of the plot) that doesn't seem so far off the mark. However, even if the story of a young mage discovering her powers isn't new, Okorafor gives it fresh power! This is the second Okorafor book I've read this month, and I plan to read more!
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Sep 09, 2020 megs_bookrack rated it it was amazing

**4.5-stars rounded up**
Okorafor's, Akata Witch, is an absolute treat for any YA, or MG Reader, who loves magic training or competition tropes.

I was blown away by how invested I became in this story. The lore, the action and the relationships were all beautifully done.

Sunny, a 12-year old albino girl, who recently moved from New York City to Aba, Nigeria, has a difficult time fitting in due to her albinism.

When people look at her, they seem to immediately pass judgement because she looks differ
**4.5-stars rounded up**
Okorafor's, Akata Witch, is an absolute treat for any YA, or MG Reader, who loves magic training or competition tropes.

I was blown away by how invested I became in this story. The lore, the action and the relationships were all beautifully done.

Sunny, a 12-year old albino girl, who recently moved from New York City to Aba, Nigeria, has a difficult time fitting in due to her albinism.

When people look at her, they seem to immediately pass judgement because she looks different than everyone else.

At school, she's constantly bullied and excluded.

The one person who accepts her, full stop, is a boy named Orlu. They begin spending time together and he introduces her to one of his friends, a vibrant young girl named, Chichi.

Chichi doesn't go to their school, although she is the same age, as she is home-schooled by her Mother.

When Sunny first goes to Chichi's house, she's astounded by the sheer number of books. The house itself seems to be built of books and on such a wide array of interesting topics.

It is through Orlu and Chichi, and their afternoons together, that Sunny ultimately learns of the Leopard People, a group of magical individuals living amongst them.

Sunny is told that she is actually one of them. It is then that Sunny's true education begins, as an entire hidden world opens up to her.

Orlu and Chichi have been learning about their gifts as Leopard People for a while, so Sunny starts out a little behind.

In spite of this, she learns quickly and begins to relish her new found powers.

Together the three kids are joined by Sasha, a boy from America, and they form the youngest Oha Coven ever.

They are tasked with hunting down a serial killer, Black Hat Otokoto, kidnapping, maiming and killing children in their area.

The fearsome-foursome go head-to-head against some truly dark forces to try to protect life as we know it.

I loved this friend group so much. Their relationships blossomed over the course of the story and I grew to love each and every one of them.

I loved how Okorafor weaved the magical realm seamlessly into our own. It was entirely believable. It made me believe, anyway.

If you are someone who loves a strong friendship group, coming together in the face of evil, with magic, heart and humor, you absolutely need to pick this up.

It's compelling from the very start. Super engaging, full of action and interesting characters.

I also loved the the way the folklore and legends were introduced into the story. I thought it was such a clever format for learning about the world.

I am excited to pick up the next book, Akata Warrior. Is this really only going to be a duology?

I feel like there is so much room for this story to grow. I never want to say goodbye to Sunny, Orlu, Chichi or Sasha. Damn. I'm getting emotional already and I've only read the first book!

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Jul 30, 2020 Samantha rated it really liked it

TW: brief mentions of child abuse; some fatphobic language
I listened to this on audio and it was so immersive. This was a unique magic system based in Nigerian folklore. Our MC was raised in America but has lived in Nigeria for years. This story explores themes of ethnicity and race, belonging, ancestry, and sexism. This book did struggle with some pacing issues and the characters not always feeling as young as they were supposed to be. But overall, I enjoyed this story and world, and I plan to
TW: brief mentions of child abuse; some fatphobic language
I listened to this on audio and it was so immersive. This was a unique magic system based in Nigerian folklore. Our MC was raised in America but has lived in Nigeria for years. This story explores themes of ethnicity and race, belonging, ancestry, and sexism. This book did struggle with some pacing issues and the characters not always feeling as young as they were supposed to be. But overall, I enjoyed this story and world, and I plan to continue with the series.
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I loved AKATA WITCH so much. It was so different and yet it also shares so many similarities to the dark academia fantasy books I love. I guess with a young adult book about magical children, comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable, but this reminded me more of VITA NOSTRA, a dark work of speculative fantasy penned by a Ukrainian husband and wife duo, where magic is intensely philosophical and transforms you physically and mentally th

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I loved AKATA WITCH so much. It was so different and yet it also shares so many similarities to the dark academia fantasy books I love. I guess with a young adult book about magical children, comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable, but this reminded me more of VITA NOSTRA, a dark work of speculative fantasy penned by a Ukrainian husband and wife duo, where magic is intensely philosophical and transforms you physically and mentally the more you learn.

Even though I would classify AKATA WITCH as dark academia, I like that it solidly rejects that classist European boarding school structure. Sunny first learns of her abilities when she sees the end of the world in a candle frame. Her friend, Orlu, takes her to his friend, Chichi, who recognizes the magic in her and takes her to their mentor, who helps her unleash her powers and start on her training journey.

Sunny is albino, and there are a lot of superstitions about albinism being magical in Africa, so I thought that was a really interesting choice for the author to make-- especially since we see how Sunny is discriminated against and rejected by her peers for being different and sounding different and looking different, since she has an American accent from being brought up in the U.S. One thing I really liked about this magic system is that innate ability is tied to the physical, usually in some sort of equal or opposite measure. So people who are physically disabled might be able to shapeshift, and people who are blind can have the Sight. This idea of compensating people for their physical "flaws" and making it part of their power was really cool.

The magic system is also really interesting. I liked how their juju knives sort of "choose" them (yes, like Harry Potter). Here, that covenant feels more sacred though, since Sunny bonds with her knife with blood. I like how the magical money works in this world too (chittim). They receive chittim for gaining knowledge-- it literally falls from the sky-- so when they try out a new spell, fix a problem, or even learn something new about themselves, they are rewarded with this magic money that can be used to buy magical goods in magical shops. Like Harry Potter, there is also a magical world and a mundane world. They call themselves "Leopard" people and people without magic are called "Lambs" and the two worlds are supposed to be separate but obviously, there are slip-ups, and there are people in charge who dole out punishments for offenses.

The main source of conflict comes from an evil man named Black Hat Otokoto who is using children for dark magic. Some people will probably compare him to Voldemort but honestly, he reminded me more of Rose the Hat from Doctor Sleep, what with the children sacrifices and the hat and all that. I think he's a really sinister villain and he really adds a real sense of stakes to the book, which is so much darker than any other magical children fantasy book I've read. Messing up a spell can lead to death, and magic can also conjure up spirits and gods, so it's really important not to go beyond one's level or act with malice, especially since magic can turn around and kill the person who performs the spell.

One thing I also really liked is how we are introduced to the world of Leopard people alongside Sunny through excerpts from her guide book, "Fast Facts for Free Agents," and how it's also acknowledged to be an imperfect work that has classist, sexist, and racist undertones. There's a discussion about how knowledge doesn't always lead to wisdom and how motive has to be analyzed when considering a source, which I thought was a really refreshing take from the "read this book and take it at complete face value" dialogues that usually emerge from books of this type.

AKATA WITCH was really fun and really unusual and I loved the Nigerian setting. Sunny, Chichi, Orlu, and Sasha are pretty young teens (13/14) but the book doesn't feel young, and I'm not sure I'd necessarily categorize this book as middle grade because the characters and the concepts feel like they're being targeted at an older audience. It's immersive and epic in scope, and I managed to burn through it in just a couple days because I was having such a good time. I really can't wait to read further into the series. I hope we get to see these characters grow up as they come into themselves.

4.5 stars
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Feb 21, 2018 Bradley rated it really liked it

What can I say? It felt very much like book one of Harry Potter in terms of plot and situation, only milder and set in Nigeria.
It shouldn't have felt milder. Objectively, there were child mutilations and a serial murderer on the loose. And there wasn't some gigantic castle with enchantments up to protect the students. So theoretically, if I were one of these four kids, I'd be creaming my pants.

Brushing that aside, the setting is deeply fascinating to me, with magics very tied to the place and cu
What can I say? It felt very much like book one of Harry Potter in terms of plot and situation, only milder and set in Nigeria.
It shouldn't have felt milder. Objectively, there were child mutilations and a serial murderer on the loose. And there wasn't some gigantic castle with enchantments up to protect the students. So theoretically, if I were one of these four kids, I'd be creaming my pants.

Brushing that aside, the setting is deeply fascinating to me, with magics very tied to the place and culture, with masks and masquerades and local spirits and demons and angels. The magic system was solid and cool, as were all the magical beasties.

I didn't even mind the mirroring of HP elements popping up like clockwork... like everywhere... I just let myself enjoy the magic, the discovery, and the coming of age.

Sometimes that's all you need to do. :) I think I might like to continue with the series. It's a comfortable, familiar ride, but just off the beaten path.
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Nov 20, 2013 D rated it did not like it

If you're looking for an interesting example of non-Eurocentric worldbuilding, then pick up this book. If you're looking for a good plot and sound characterisation, you can probably find better.
In terms of setting, this book is fantastic: it's interesting, different and a nice change from the super-Euro default setting of most urban fantasy novels. The world-building, although we're not shown much outside of the character's immediate area, is fantastic and gives a good impression of what the glo
If you're looking for an interesting example of non-Eurocentric worldbuilding, then pick up this book. If you're looking for a good plot and sound characterisation, you can probably find better.
In terms of setting, this book is fantastic: it's interesting, different and a nice change from the super-Euro default setting of most urban fantasy novels. The world-building, although we're not shown much outside of the character's immediate area, is fantastic and gives a good impression of what the global situation is in this universe, not just the local one.

The novel also focuses on female characters, and their families play an important (if background) role to the story. The characters themselves are fairly diverse, with Igbo as well as other tribes represented, and physical traits like albinism appearing alongside mental ones like dyslexia. So that was nice! As someone with dyslexia, I found the depiction of it to be a little baffling, but the fact it is even shown was nice.

However, while the world-building is great, I found the plot weak and the characters unbelievable. The adult characters are all alternatively useless and terrible, and the children are placed with an absurd amount of responsibility for no discernible reason - although the older characters consistently say they'll explain later, you'll never get an explanation worth the suspension of belief. Even a pokey explanation would have been better, because the alternative is that all the adult characters come across as mildly psychopathic, and/or possibly trying to kill and/or tramuatise these kids in the weirdest, most off-handed way.

The child protagonists aren't much better. Their personalities are not very well defined - apart from his casual sexism, it's hard for me to think of ways that Sunny, the protagonist, is different from her young schoolmate Orlu. Part of this is because the characters don't really grow throughout the novel. They undergo a number of different tramuatising events, but they never actually experience consequences - for example, although a man is killed directly in front of them and the children are all horrified, they get over it in a handful of pages and it is never mentioned again. This is a consistent theme throughout the book, and is exemplified in the final scenes. Things may happen to the characters, but if they're not affected by them, then what's the point?

Finally, as the most minor issue, I found the book's handling of American blacks to be slightly strange. The primary protagonist is from America, but identifies primarily as Nigerian throughout the book, which is not the issue. The problem is that the only American who identifies as such is Sasha, who is a juvenile delinquent who refers to himself "as a descendent of slaves and such", cracks jokes about soul food, "cornbread, fried chicken and collared greens" and whom other characters constantly talk about his weird, girly name. Any of those traits by themselves would be fine, but when he is also the only character that continuously brings up racism and those are all his defining characteristics, it gets weird.

ETA, 10/17/2018: I wrote this review when I was a great deal more mealy-mouthed than I am today, so for clarification: I find this book's handling of American blacks to be explicitly racist, in case the descriptions above don't make that entirely clear, and more a caricature of what people think the culture is / the people within it are than an actual portrayal of a genuine character.
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So torn on this one about giving it a 3 or 4 star rating.
Pros: Love that the story is set in Africa, with African and African American main characters, as well as an albino. Also, it goes the Percy Jackson route of explaining that what we call "learning disabilities" like ADD and dyslexia, are just bi-products of their uniqueness as magicians. The world building is fantastic. We often see magic from a European point of view and it was really cool to see this fresh take.

Cons: When I was told that
So torn on this one about giving it a 3 or 4 star rating.
Pros: Love that the story is set in Africa, with African and African American main characters, as well as an albino. Also, it goes the Percy Jackson route of explaining that what we call "learning disabilities" like ADD and dyslexia, are just bi-products of their uniqueness as magicians. The world building is fantastic. We often see magic from a European point of view and it was really cool to see this fresh take.

Cons: When I was told that this story staring an Albino, Nigerian girl was a Harry Potter read alike, I didn't believe it until I started reading. Outsider to the magical community looking in. Juju knives instead of wands. Leopard Knocks instead of Diagion Alley. Lambs instead of Muggles. Etc. Etc. There's nothing wrong with being a Harry Potter read alike, except it suffers in the same place I think HP does. The climax is a show down with a final bad guy. We know its coming but that's basically all the build up for it. Mainly the story is about enjoying the novelty of Sunny's new magical life and the final conflict is jarringly thrown in at the end. We don't see how they were prepared for the final showdown and why it was them who had to do it. For me, the ending felt like it ran up and smacked me in the face.

Still, I think I would recommend it overall. It's nice to see a unique female protagonist in a unique setting.
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Twelve-year-old Sunny's family moved from the United States to their native Nigeria when she was nine years old. Even though her family is originally from Nigeria, Sunny is always an outsider amongst her schoolmates. She's American by birth and albino, both traits that make her a target for bullies. When she has a terrifying vision of the end of the world, she discovers yet another quality that sets her apart from the rest of the community. She's a Leopard, a person with magical abilities. With Twelve-year-old Sunny's family moved from the United States to their native Nigeria when she was nine years old. Even though her family is originally from Nigeria, Sunny is always an outsider amongst her schoolmates. She's American by birth and albino, both traits that make her a target for bullies. When she has a terrifying vision of the end of the world, she discovers yet another quality that sets her apart from the rest of the community. She's a Leopard, a person with magical abilities. With the help of three new friends and a challenge to protect her community from a ritual killer, she will find out who she really is and the full extent of her capabilities.
I adored Sunny! She's continually underestimated and "her path to anything seemed to always be difficult." Her father favors her brothers over her, possibly because she "wasn't the son he wanted or the pretty daughter he'd have accepted instead." She loves to play soccer, but her gender and sensitive skin prevent her from playing with the boys after school. I loved Sunny's intelligence and fortitude in the face of adversity. She knows that the limitations and stereotypes that others saddle her with say more about them than her.

Prejudice begets prejudice, you see. Knowledge does not always evolve into wisdom.

When Sunny discovers her abilities, she also finds out there's an entire part of her community that was previously invisible to her. Leopard Knocks is a rich, magical world rooted in Nigerian tradition and mythology. There are some of the typical elements that you'd expect of this genre, but there are also so many new things to discover. Spirit faces, vengeful insect specters, and the approval-seeking (and charming!) wasp artists were especially interesting to me. While power and material possessions are the most valued things in the non-magical world, knowledge is the most important resource of the Leopard People. They receive a financial reward for learning new skills. However, opportunities to accumulate power and wealth are always tempting and even Leopards can be corrupted.

Both the magical and non-magical world can be dangerous and the children are not sheltered from the harsh realities of life. Sunny is aware of ritual sacrifices and people being sold into slavery. Her community is currently being terrorized by ritual killer Black Hat Otokoto, who is mutilating and murdering children. Sunny and her friends encounter life-threatening situations during their magical training. In the Nigerian Leopard community, punishments are "swift and painful," unlike the America Leopard community's "verbal and lawful" system. Of course, America has its own problems, which are discussed.

Home will never be the same once you know what you are. Your whole life will change. Nigeria is already full of groups, circles, cultures. We have many ways. You are Yoruba, Hausa, Ibibio, Fulani, Ogoni, Tiv, Nupe, Kanuri, Ijaw, Annang, and so on. You add being a Leopard Person to that and your groups split into a thousand more groups. The world becomes that much more complicated.

Division and discord are a major part of Sunny's world. There are tensions between people of different tribes, nationalities, and abilities. The multitude of languages spoken leaves a lot of room for misunderstandings and alienation. The title reflects some of these conflicts. One classmate calls Sunny a "stupid pale-faced akata witch," mocking her for being an American and albino. "Akata" is a derogatory term that refers to black Americans and people with albinism are often assumed to have "magical evil powers." Even in the Leopard community, Sunny is a minority. Both of her parents are Lambs (non-magical people), making her a rare Free Agent. The best resource available to her kind is written from a place of prejudice. But for the most part, the things that make Sunny different are assets in this new part of her life.

Sunny's new friends all have different backgrounds, strengths, and weaknesses, but it's their differences that make them strong as a team.  In fact, some of the traits that are considered weaknesses to Lambs are a source of enhanced strength to the Leopards. Mature and humble Orlu keeps the team grounded. Chichi is quick in both speed and wit. Sasha is angry and impulsive. Sunny is jealous that everyone else seems to know who they are, but she will figure out her place as she gains more experience.

Learn how to learn. Read between the lines. Know what to take and what to discard.

The only part I didn't like was (view spoiler)[the rushed and anti-climatic ending. I was beginning to think the big confrontation I was expecting wouldn't happen. Perhaps the major arc in this story would just be Sunny finding out who she is, coming into her own, and learning to navigate her two worlds. The big fight did come eventually, but it was over in a few pages and the result came confusingly swift. I didn’t get the same satisfying thrill witnessing the kids fight the big bad as I did seeing Sunny kick butt on the soccer field. (hide spoiler)] Of course, this is just the first book in the series and there's much more to come.

Like many preteens, Sunny is trying to figure out her place in the world. She just has a few extra challenges on top of that, like trying to save the world from ultimate destruction! Will these magical novices be able to put their divergent abilities together and defeat a more powerful foe? I loved Sunny and the world of Leopard Knocks. I'm anxious to see what Sunny, Orlu, Chichi, and Sasha will be up to in the long awaited sequel Akata Warrior, available October 3, 2017. I'm glad it'll be a short wait!

Other Links:
Review of this book written by a man with albinism  - There are book recommendations in the comment section.
"Don't Call Me Albino" -- A Primer on Albinism Etiquette
The story of Nigeria's 'untouchables'  (BBC) - Osu people referenced by Sunny in Chapter 12.

___________
I received this book for free from Penguin First to Read. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. It's available now!
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Sorry, I wish I liked this but I don't. I normally love Okorafor's writing, but this particular one is terribly written and poorly edited.
I really enjoyed the setting (Nigeria) and use of African culture and magic, but it really suffers from being too formulaic and derivative - it takes a huge number of its plot points from Harry Potter. Don't get me wrong, I loved Harry Potter, but I don't think this one did its own thing nearly enough.

For instance, the Leopard (wizard) kids took a magic train
Sorry, I wish I liked this but I don't. I normally love Okorafor's writing, but this particular one is terribly written and poorly edited.
I really enjoyed the setting (Nigeria) and use of African culture and magic, but it really suffers from being too formulaic and derivative - it takes a huge number of its plot points from Harry Potter. Don't get me wrong, I loved Harry Potter, but I don't think this one did its own thing nearly enough.

For instance, the Leopard (wizard) kids took a magic train (Knight Bus) to a market (Diagon Alley) that Lambs (muggles) couldn't see. They then went to get the Free Agent (muggle born) main character her own juju knife (wand) which she gets from a quirky and strange man (Olivander) who muses about how curious her knife is - but never explains the significance of this particular blade - and further, this is the only possible knife she can get cause the wand chooses the wizard.

And that's only a couple of chapters... There's dozens more parallels in the book.

Frankly, really meaningful, emotional things seem to have no consequences... The kids witness someone dying and are upset - but within a page, they've seemingly forgotten all about it and have started enthusiastically playing an elaborate soccer match. More time is spent on this ultimately pointless soccer match than is spent in the climax of the book!

In the climax, the adults of the book push the kids towards a confrontation, without any real effort to give them training to help them win, nor any real consideration for the kids' survival or safety. The main character is 12 for crying out loud. They had no business to do that.

Finally, there's some pretty horrible editing errors. Sunny is from New York - but in the prologue she says she's from Chicago, and in another section she implies she's gone to school in Nigeria since she was 5. Her aunt simultaneously lives in Atlanta and works in NYC. Sunny caught malaria when she was 2 - yet she couldn't have caught it when she was 2 because she was living in the United States at the time. So, unless she took an unmentioned vacation, malaria would have been impossible.

So, in general, this is just a huge, huge disappointment for me.
It'd probably read better for the target audience (lower end of the YA scale) but just doesn't hold up to my adult skepticism.
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"The ones with attitude have the best light.”
So What’s It About? (from Goodreads)

"Akata Witch transports the reader to a magical place where nothing is quite as it seems. Born in New York, but living in Aba, Nigeria, twelve-year old Sunny is understandably a little lost. She is albino and thus, incredibly sensitive to the sun. All Sunny wants to do is be able to play football and get through another day of school without being bullied. But once she befriends Orlu and Chichi, Sunny is plunged in
"The ones with attitude have the best light.”
So What’s It About? (from Goodreads)

"Akata Witch transports the reader to a magical place where nothing is quite as it seems. Born in New York, but living in Aba, Nigeria, twelve-year old Sunny is understandably a little lost. She is albino and thus, incredibly sensitive to the sun. All Sunny wants to do is be able to play football and get through another day of school without being bullied. But once she befriends Orlu and Chichi, Sunny is plunged in to the world of the Leopard People, where your worst defect becomes your greatest asset. Together, Sunny, Orlu, Chichi and Sasha form the youngest ever Oha Coven. Their mission is to track down Black Hat Otokoto, the man responsible for kidnapping and maiming children. Will Sunny be able to overcome the killer with powers stronger than her own, or will the future she saw in the flames become reality?"

What I Thought

Last year I read Okorafor’s Who Fears Death and thought it was extremely strong in a number of regards but also found it weighed down by immature characters who made impulsive and infuriating decisions. And my feelings about Akata Witch this year are…almost exactly the same!

This time around I genuinely loved the magic and the world-building. Okorafor’s creativity and sense of humor really get to shine in this book and I adored everything from the tungwas ( “floating bags of teeth, bone, meat and hair. They explode when they’re ready”) to a magical pepper soup recipe with dire warnings about the soup turning to poison and a kind of magical artist wasp with a flair for the dramatic if it doesn’t get enough praise for its creations:

“Its sting paralyzes you for ten minutes so you can do nothing but watch it build its ‘final masterpiece’ and then keep watching as it dramatically dies.”

The secret magical society is rich and interesting and I loved the very sweet underlying message that the things we think of as our weaknesses can actually be our strengths:

“We embrace those things that make us unique or odd. For only in these things can we locate and develop our most individual abilities.”

Sunny’s ostracization because she is albino is also well-explored, though I do think it takes away from the central message that once she becomes a free agent she loses the light sensitivity that comes along with her condition. There are also a few times that the story touches on black identity and belonging in the U.S. vs Nigeria in a really compelling way. I’m so pleased to have read a story all about black kids exploring the things that make them special, growing in power and saving the world, especially within the context of a delightfully unique non-Western world full of magic.

Unfortunately the main group of kids spend 90% of their time squabbling and bickering with each other, which I found incredibly annoying. They also make some terrible decisions with absolutely no justification whatsoever, like when Chichi inexplicably summons a masquerade at a party and it runs rampant, causing havoc and destruction. As I mentioned at the beginning of the review it’s the same problem I had with Who Fears Death: sympathetic characters are made unsympathetic because their incessant immaturity and impulsivity.

There are also a few moments of bizarre emotional detachment. At one point in time the kids see a man get violently murdered right before their eyes and then a few paragraphs later they’re all like “Hey, guys, who wants to play a soccer game on the field where this man just died!” I mean, what? It was the strangest moment in the book by far and I would really love to know what Okorafor was thinking when she wrote it!
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After seeing the author read from what will be Akata Witch #2, I realized I had overlooked a book I should seek out. Akata Witch soon pulled itself ahead of the other books in my tbr pile.
If you like books about magic, particularly teens finding out they have special abilities, learning to use them, and building a community with others like them, this is the book for you. Added to those well-loved tropes is a new landscape with new traditions and rules. Setting it in Nigeria, with Igbo people b
After seeing the author read from what will be Akata Witch #2, I realized I had overlooked a book I should seek out. Akata Witch soon pulled itself ahead of the other books in my tbr pile.
If you like books about magic, particularly teens finding out they have special abilities, learning to use them, and building a community with others like them, this is the book for you. Added to those well-loved tropes is a new landscape with new traditions and rules. Setting it in Nigeria, with Igbo people but also Efik, allows for new magic, new histories, and more possibilities.

I loved the character of Sunny, who starts out as an outsider for two reasons - she is albino, and while this is a noticeable character trait it also prevents her from social activities like football; she also was born in America and lived there most of her childhood. That is where the word "akata" comes from, it is a word that means something very negative. Apparently the Nigerian edition of the novel had to have a different title!
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Aug 03, 2020 Mari rated it really liked it

This was House Salt's July book club read. Check out our live show here.
3.5 stars

Things that worked: I went on a whole journey with the fact that this is usually compared to Harry Potter. On the one hand, I hate that we overuse HP as a comp title, especially for fantasy written by non-white authors. On the other hand, there were a lot of times that while reading this reminded me of Harry Potter. And because I'm writing this is 2020, when lots of people are looking to replace those books in some

This was House Salt's July book club read. Check out our live show here.
3.5 stars

Things that worked: I went on a whole journey with the fact that this is usually compared to Harry Potter. On the one hand, I hate that we overuse HP as a comp title, especially for fantasy written by non-white authors. On the other hand, there were a lot of times that while reading this reminded me of Harry Potter. And because I'm writing this is 2020, when lots of people are looking to replace those books in some way, I'd just like to say that while also being very different, and having more to say if you ask me, this gave me Harry Potter vibes.

I really loved the magic by the end of the story. All of the elements of the world and system were imaginative, even if they were based on tropes that are well worn and well loved in the fantasy genre. Okorafor did an excellent job establishing place, and the sights and sounds of this world are something that I'll keep with me after the reading experience.

This story doesn't shy away from the danger of magic and I appreciated that. The adults in this story tell them baldly how dangerous everything is. There is an on-screen death scene here that was impactful and upsetting, and taught us a lot about the world, especially considering how many of the adults brushed it off.

I enjoyed Sunny as a main character and especially what she represents in the story-- an in-between sort of girl. Her powers mean she's part here and part in the spirit realm. Her background mean that she feels part American and part Nigerian. Her albinism means that she's black but faces a sort of colorism along with everyone's ableism. Her family situation was complex, which was wonderful, and I enjoyed that through her Okorafor commented on gendered expectations and the way adults can dismiss kids.

With one caveat (below), I also liked the way that this combined innate abilities with performed magic. Tying their innate power to some sort of disability or to things that are commonly interpreted as "disadvantages" was really neat, particularly for the messaging of what children could achieve if we weren't so quick to label them or count them out. It also strongly promotes the ideas of mentorship and tailoring learning.

Things that worked less...: When I first finished reading this, I was leaning toward a 4 star because I had a ton of fun. And I would definitely recommend it. Upon closer examination, though, there were a few things that tripped me up. First is that this definitely feels like a first book in a series, particularly for the way that it presents lots of elements and ideas from this world, but doesn't develop them very much further or deeper.

This is pretty fast moving, which makes it exciting and readable, but leaves a lot of the characters feeling a bit flat. I definitely had moments with each of them, and I would care if something happened to them, but it didn't feel like we spent enough time with them to consider them favorites or to think of any of them as especially memorable.

The beginning of this book relies on everyone basically telling Sunny nothing about her magic, purposefully ignoring her questions and withholding information from her. It's more understandable why at some points, but in general, this is a device I truly dislike. It makes for such a frustrating reading experience for me, especially when Sunny was asking pointed, direct questions and all we got was repetitive "not now, later" answers. This certainly settles down a bit, and we do get to see some of Sunny's frustration over this very thing, but it affected my reading experience.

And it slows down the beginning of the story in a way that makes the frantic end of it even more pronounced. The resolution and the showdown with the big bad happen and is resolved so quickly. The action in that final scene is also hard to follow.

As I mentioned above, some of the power in this world is tied to disability. I can't speak to any of the representation, but there was one thing that played a little weirdly, particularly because it doesn't exist in a vacuum and follows a long history of this trope. Once Sunny acquires a certain amount of power, she loses the sun sensitivity tied to her albinism. It is explained by the sort of magic she obtains, but reads like an at least partly magical cure. Sunny still has albinism and she still has to live her life in mostly the same ways, so "cure" is a strong word to apply, but just a heads up that that exists in the story.

I am definitely going to read the next book because even for its faults, this was fast-paced and engaging and had a lot to say.

CW: Ableism, violence, on-screen fight and death scene, fatphobia, smoking.
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Oct 13, 2016 Arlene♡ rated it it was amazing
Recommends it for: african lit lovers, ya lovers, witchcraft and wizard lovers

5 Damn Stars!
THIS WAS SOOO GOOD!!!

Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up, but it didn't take me long to realize what a gem I had stumbled upon.

Okay so Sunny is an albino girl, of 12-ish, and she gets a glimpse of what is to happen in her world, but she isn't all the way sure of what she saw in the flames that night (not a spoiler, it's in the prologue). Normally she is reduced to name calling, being left out, picked on all because, kids are cruel, and albinism is not looked
5 Damn Stars!
THIS WAS SOOO GOOD!!!

Honestly I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up, but it didn't take me long to realize what a gem I had stumbled upon.

Okay so Sunny is an albino girl, of 12-ish, and she gets a glimpse of what is to happen in her world, but she isn't all the way sure of what she saw in the flames that night (not a spoiler, it's in the prologue). Normally she is reduced to name calling, being left out, picked on all because, kids are cruel, and albinism is not looked upon in the best of light but one day she meets Orlu and Chichi and they see something in her that she never knew existed. They take to her soon to be teacher, and initiate her into their world and there was no turning back. She finds out that she is part of a magical world that consists of Leopard people (magical folk) and that it has been passed down in her family to her. On the flip side of all this discovery, there is a problem happening in her village, where kids are being taken and are being killed, and it's not until later that a connection is made and Sunny and her friends (Chichi, Orlu and Sasha) are put on a path to stop him (Black Hat).

This book is very reminiscent to that of Harry Potter, expect it takes place in Nigeria instead of the UK. There is a magic system, magical people, no wands (just juju knives), spells, and levels of mastery. This book is so visual that it would be a FANTASTIC movie or television series. It would blow people minds on all the imagery that Dr. Okorafor has put in this book.

Sunny, as a main character is a wonderful girl!! She's smart, tough, athletic, and she doesn't let people get away with treating her like she doesn't belong just because she is a girl or an albino. She's a fearless chick who has made some great friends and this story, her story is a great read.
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Jun 19, 2017 La Loves a Little Tea and Books rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Recommends it for: school libraries, libraries, movie companies

(Full Review at http://www.craftyscribbles.com)
Okay. Let's discuss the elephant in the room. Akata Witch has been nicknamed the African (Nigerian) Harry Potter. While there are some influences, overall this story respects the cultural magic realism hailing from Nigeria and other African countries. Hate to break this truth to some readers, but J.K. Rowling doesn't hold the copyright to magical realism in books, particularly when you see cultural aspects she nicked for her stories. But, we'll save
(Full Review at http://www.craftyscribbles.com)
Okay. Let's discuss the elephant in the room. Akata Witch has been nicknamed the African (Nigerian) Harry Potter. While there are some influences, overall this story respects the cultural magic realism hailing from Nigeria and other African countries. Hate to break this truth to some readers, but J.K. Rowling doesn't hold the copyright to magical realism in books, particularly when you see cultural aspects she nicked for her stories. But, we'll save that pot of tea for another discussion.

As the blurb states, 12-year Sunny is a Nigerian-American, living in Nigeria with her parents after living in the U.S. for nine years. She's an outcast - an Akata or "wild animal" - not only because of her ethnicity and birth country, but because of her albinism. Deep down, she's a normal kid, enjoying soccer (football), getting good grades and suffering from school bullies. But, as she reaches deeper into her soul, there's a calling within her soul she cannot tag.

She meets to fellow kids, Orlu and Chichi (another kid, Sasha, an African-American, joins the group) and they discover their souls are intertwined for greater roles some of they knew, but still couldn't imagine. They form a leopard coven (lambs equate to muggles, if you insist on following the HP world) and with training, find themselves battling an evil rogue using children and ritual killing to bring on a vicious spirit.

Will she accept her gifted fate? Or, will she cower and decide being ordinary's not so bad?

Nnedi Okorafor clearly writes with love as she showcases rich and varied Nigerian traditions within magical realism. I'm not Nigerian. In fact, I do not know where my African heritage descends (Another story for another day). Okorafor schools me on foods, language, and aspects of her culture better than any documentary.

Furthermore, she paints the landscape strong. I see the dust, mud, and urbane landscapes with Leopard Knocks (Okay, her version of Diagon Alley. Give it a rest!). Yet, while the latter's fictional, those markets described in Akata Witch are real with a magical spin.

Additional, each kid she created holds their own personality. None of them blur. They stand distinct (although Sasha worked a nerve or two for me). They are spirited and melancholic, joyous and angry. They realize the hardcore job ahead and all encompassing it.

While rough in some areas (mainly, reading about the ritual killing and maiming), this story presents fantasy, a genre which I tend to shy from, in a palatable manner and I cannot wait to read the next book in her series, Akata Warrior.

However, while I highly recommend this story, AW has one glitch: the ending. The battle's way too short for the amount of build-up presented. But, given Okorafor's series, my inpatient self will have to move on the next book. While fantasy's lack of diversity speaks volumes - I mean, you can create blue fairies but not people based on real folks - this is a story worthy of reading. Adapt this book into a movie...stat.

Verdict: 4.5/5 Chittems (Read the book to get the reference)

*Thanks to Penguin's First Reads Program for an honest and unbiased review*
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Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
First in the Akata Witch series

4.5 stars

"Lies are a thing of the physical world. They can't exist in the spirit world."

Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born in America. She is both Nigerian and American. An outsider who belongs. Sunny is different from her family in more ways than one. She’s albino, but she has also seen the end of the world in the flame of a candle. She’s a free agent— a Leopard Person who is not from a family of Leopard People. She has no knowl
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
First in the Akata Witch series

4.5 stars

"Lies are a thing of the physical world. They can't exist in the spirit world."

Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born in America. She is both Nigerian and American. An outsider who belongs. Sunny is different from her family in more ways than one. She’s albino, but she has also seen the end of the world in the flame of a candle. She’s a free agent— a Leopard Person who is not from a family of Leopard People. She has no knowledge of the magic that flows within her or the spirit world that is both her friend and enemy. There’s a serial killer pillaging the streets and killing kids and it’s up to her and three new friends to stop him. This is unique. When I requested this novel, I hadn’t realized that Nnedi Okorafor was the author of Binti, a hugely popular scifi that has been sweeping the book world by storm. This is my first time reading Okorafor’s work and it will not be my last. The writing is beautiful and the storytelling is rich. Okorafor merges the world of Nigeria with the hidden world of Leopard Knocks seamlessly. The imagery is stunning and one of my favorite things about Akata Witch was the excerpts from the book about Free Agents. We learned about Leopard People as Sunny does and it puts the reader on equal footing with Sunny. It makes the story more intimate because the reader develops relationships and knowledge as the main protagonist does. It’s a wonderful, well-developed story full of magic, mischief, and innocence.

Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.75

The main female character is Sunny. Sunny is a very young protagonist; she’s only twelve-years-old. She doesn’t know much about the world and her thoughts can feel a little silly, but it’s important to keep in mind that Sunny is experiencing a world that is unfamiliar to her. This is a world that children know about since birth if they are born into it and this world is also brutal. There’s a scene towards the end where Sunny and her friends attend a wrestling match that results in someone dying. It’s very brutal for a child to see this, but her teacher was teaching them a valuable lesson— a lesson that becomes important to their task of defeating Black Hat. I really enjoyed Sunny as a character and I guess I have developed a maternal affection for her. I want to see her succeed in learning about and navigating this new world, but I also want her to be safe. If this series follows Sunny throughout her teen years, I know she’ll grow into a badass woman.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 4.5

The other characters in Sunny’s friend group are integral to this story. Without her friends, Sunny wouldn’t know of her true self or be able to embrace who she really is. There’s ChiChi, Orlo, and Sasha. ChiChi is a wonderful character with a lot of spunk and heavy doses of snark. She’s fierce, but reckless. She’s very bright for her age (whatever that age may be), but she’s also too cocky. It puts her and others at danger, but this characterization makes ChiChi authentic and feel real. Orlo is Sunny’s classmate at the Lamb school (Lambs are outsiders who are not Leopard People, non-magic folk) and he comes to her aid after several fights. He has the unique talent of mending things that are undone and he’s reserved. Orlo calculates situations and doesn’t make rash decisions without thinking about them. He adheres to the rules of the Leopard People and doesn’t believe they should be pushed or broken. Sasha is from the United States and is outsider in Nigeria, but a Leopard Person through and through. He has a lot of power for being young, but he is reckless and has a vendetta against authority figures. He doesn’t respect those with power and believes that rules are meant to broken. He’s definitely rebellious, but he isn’t a bad person. He just makes a lot of foolish and bad decisions, but most young kids do. Together the four children have a strong bond and they are definite friendship goals. Anatov is their mentor and teacher. He’s wise and does a lot questionable things, but the lessons always outweigh the risks. Messing with juju is dangerous and it can lead to death; Anatov doesn’t let the kids forget it and leads them to many missions that can harm them. I also really enjoyed the balancing of Sunny’s family life with her new life. Her relationship with her mother, especially towards the end, takes a new shift and brought a smile upon my face.

Character Scale: 5

The Villain- Black Hat is a serial killer who targets children. He takes limbs and seems to be practicing some type of ritual sacrifice. It is revealed later on that he has a role in the Leopard Knocks society and an even bigger part to the end of the world that Sunny has seen.

Villain Scale: 4

My only problem, and it’s a bit of a big one, is the ending. The ending felt rushed and the big battle showdown wasn’t as climactic as the novel kept building it up to be. It felt a little too convenient and everything just worked out so well. That’s why I can’t give this novel a full 5 stars, but I’m really excited about the sequel to Akata Witch and I know that this will be a series I don’t want to miss.

Plotastic Scale: 4.5
Cover Thoughts: This cover is fierce. It’s intense and I really like it. Although I must admit I love and prefer the hardcover because it captures Sunny’s innocence. This girl on the cover isn’t Sunny until the end of the novel. It feels a little too mature, but it’s still a well-done cover.

Thank you, First to Read and Speak, for chance to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.
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Jul 16, 2018 Sarah rated it really liked it

I sincerely adored this novel. It's definitely geared towards a younger crowd, but I think it was the perfect palate cleanser after finishing Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem series.
It's set in Nigeria, and bounces back and forth between what seems like a smallish country village and a larger village set in the jungle. It's both lush and gritty. You get a sense of the dust in the air, the heat, the plant and insect life. The characters are unique, their voices believable. Sunny especially, I was i
I sincerely adored this novel. It's definitely geared towards a younger crowd, but I think it was the perfect palate cleanser after finishing Liu Cixin's Three Body Problem series.
It's set in Nigeria, and bounces back and forth between what seems like a smallish country village and a larger village set in the jungle. It's both lush and gritty. You get a sense of the dust in the air, the heat, the plant and insect life. The characters are unique, their voices believable. Sunny especially, I was incredibly fond of. She is albino, so she stands out from the other kids and experiences quite a bit of bullying. Yet she never stopped to feel sorry for herself, never wished she was something else, never let it stop her or get her down. Her relationship with her mother was also beautiful, and I am thrilled Okorafor focused on that relationship more than any possible romantic ones.

The magical and cultural elements were so much fun. I loved the idea of the chittim falling from the sky as the kids learned, rewarding team work and wisdom rather than greed and a lust for power. A lot of mythical creatures were included in the story, some fun and some scary.

I'm torn on whether the content is necessarily appropriate for middle grade. There is a serial killer on the loose and he is abducting, mutilating and killing children. I'm sort of sensitive to these things but I didn't feel that it was all that graphic here. To me, graphic is when a character witnesses it up close and personal, describing it in detail, here, it was mentioned in passing as newspaper articles. So I think it depends a lot on the person reading it as to whether it would be too scary or not.

There were a couple things holding it back from being a five star read for me. The first was the believability factor. I can't really expand on this more without some serious spoilers, but it only really struck me in a couple places. Being a fantasy, I was able to ignore it pretty easily. The second was that the climax all happened in one very quick chapter and it didn't seem like it was given much thought. This is definitely a book about the journey and not the destination, so again, I can look past it in favor of all the other things there were to love.

I will definitely be checking out Akata Warrior and Okorafor's other works in the future. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something different from the standard fantasy.
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May 29, 2011 Uche Ogbuji rated it it was amazing

I'll just quote fromt he conclusion of my TNB review:
What I personally love best about the novel is how well it plays on the confusion of identities that affect so many Nigerians, especially those who've split time between Nigeria and the U.S. or Europe as children. I certainly remember returning from America to Nigeria at the age of ten, after seven years abroad, and encountering hostility and ridicule as an outsider, feeling as if I didn't really belong on any of the three continents I'd calle
I'll just quote fromt he conclusion of my TNB review:
What I personally love best about the novel is how well it plays on the confusion of identities that affect so many Nigerians, especially those who've split time between Nigeria and the U.S. or Europe as children. I certainly remember returning from America to Nigeria at the age of ten, after seven years abroad, and encountering hostility and ridicule as an outsider, feeling as if I didn't really belong on any of the three continents I'd called home at one time or another, and finding my way mostly in the company of fellow misfits. Akata Witch integrates these experiences neatly into a greater framework, ultimately grounding itself in the age-old storyline clash between earnest goodness and utter evil. Reading the book is a transporting experience but with a good deal of shocks and jolts that bring the narrative suddenly near at hand. I suspect I gained much particular enjoyment from the familiar flashes of tradition and language, but I suspect other less familiar readers would enjoy the same bits as flashes of exotic wonder without losing the story. No less an august commentator than Ursula K. Le Guin said "There's more vivid imagination in a page of Nnedi Okorafor's work than in whole volumes of ordinary fantasy epics."  If you want a fresh take on novels about children immersed in a magical world, in a colorful and engaging setting, I highly recommend Akata Witch.
...more

Jul 30, 2017 Diana rated it did not like it

EDIT: I tried again but DNF'ed at page 83. I feel as disconcerted as Sunny because I feel like there's all this info dump, and all that craziness about thr Leopard people and the society (buildings, schools, etc) hiding behind a bridge, and I don't know, I just couldn't take the leap of faith required to follow the story because I felt no conexion to the characters or to the story itself. Instead it all seemed kinda rushed to me, like instead of taking its time to ease the reader into the story EDIT: I tried again but DNF'ed at page 83. I feel as disconcerted as Sunny because I feel like there's all this info dump, and all that craziness about thr Leopard people and the society (buildings, schools, etc) hiding behind a bridge, and I don't know, I just couldn't take the leap of faith required to follow the story because I felt no conexion to the characters or to the story itself. Instead it all seemed kinda rushed to me, like instead of taking its time to ease the reader into the story we were on some sort of rush...
I really wanted to like this story this time arpund as I love Own Voice authors, but I just couldn't enter into the story... again.

_____________ ______________ _____________

I was enjoying the book until the main character goes through the initiation ritual. That she follows without explanations given, they talk as if she wasn't there, offer no explanation or introduction... after the initiation ritual for which she hasn't voluntered and hasn't being told about she still follows them even though she thinks they are crazy at the beginning... I dunno, I didn't buy it.
Also, the characters seemed very archetipical to me, and their relarionships kind of forced instead of developed over time and actions...
...more

Feb 10, 2019 Kiera rated it it was amazing

This Young Adult novel set in Nigeria follows Sunny who was born in New York and looks African but is albino. Sunny feels like she doesn't fit in. Untill her friends Orlu and Chichi reveal that they have magical abilities, and so does Sunny. But Sunny and her friends have been asked to track down a serial killer who's abilities are much stronger than theirs.
I am in love with this story.

It felt kind of Harry Potter-ish, if Harry was a girl and the story was set in Nigeria. The whole thing with b
This Young Adult novel set in Nigeria follows Sunny who was born in New York and looks African but is albino. Sunny feels like she doesn't fit in. Untill her friends Orlu and Chichi reveal that they have magical abilities, and so does Sunny. But Sunny and her friends have been asked to track down a serial killer who's abilities are much stronger than theirs.
I am in love with this story.

It felt kind of Harry Potter-ish, if Harry was a girl and the story was set in Nigeria. The whole thing with buying the juju knife and also the money and how 'lambs' couldn't see 'leopards' because of the juju. But I was okay with it.

The soccer game?.?..was totally pointless though. I mean I get that some people like soccer but I'm really not a sports person.

The magic system is so cool and original. At first I was like juju? That's stupid, and to be honest I'm still like what kind of name is juju? But. It's so cool. I love how the chittim (money) falls from the sky when they learn. The magic system is so interesting and I can't wait to read Amara Witch and learn more about it.

Sunny--
Sunny is out brave main character who is albino. She loves soccer but because she is so sensitive to the sun she can only play at night. Sunny finds out that she has magical powers.
It was really interesting to see Sunny navigate her way through the magic and learn about it.

Sasha--
Sasha was so funny. I loved his character.
I really liked how he stood up to the boys and the soccer game and told them to let Sunny play. Overall he was just such a fun character and I can't wait to read more about him.

Overall the magic system was so interesting and perfect. The writing style was beautiful. Akata Witch was so exciting and addicting, I literally couldn't put it down, it was so interesting. I can't wait to read more from Nnedi Okorafor.
5 stars.
...more

Feb 22, 2018 Justine rated it really liked it

I really enjoyed this. One of the things I love about Okorafor's writing is the unique voice she brings to her stories. Her characters come alive easily for the reader, and they are all so individual and unique.
Aside from anything else, this book does a great job delving into questions of identity. Although this is a typical theme for YA stories, it is also one that seems particularly important here. Sunny is confronted with understanding herself from many sides: her place as an American born N
I really enjoyed this. One of the things I love about Okorafor's writing is the unique voice she brings to her stories. Her characters come alive easily for the reader, and they are all so individual and unique.
Aside from anything else, this book does a great job delving into questions of identity. Although this is a typical theme for YA stories, it is also one that seems particularly important here. Sunny is confronted with understanding herself from many sides: her place as an American born Nigerian, a Leopard (or magically inclined) person born into a Lamb (or non-magical) family, a girl in a male dominated culture, and an albino on top of everything else.

This book was, for me, a surprisingly satisfying one, and I'm so glad I picked it up.
...more

Born in New York City, but living in Nigeria, twelve-year-old Sunny feels like she’s straddling two worlds. This becomes even more true when she discovers her magical abilities and enters the world of Leopard people. This book is one of the most original and woke fantasy stories I’ve ever read. It openly discusses bullying, racism, beauty standards, police brutality in the United States, and greed. All month I’ve been recommending this book to everyone I meet, kids and adults alike.
— Alison Dohe
Born in New York City, but living in Nigeria, twelve-year-old Sunny feels like she’s straddling two worlds. This becomes even more true when she discovers her magical abilities and enters the world of Leopard people. This book is one of the most original and woke fantasy stories I’ve ever read. It openly discusses bullying, racism, beauty standards, police brutality in the United States, and greed. All month I’ve been recommending this book to everyone I meet, kids and adults alike.
— Alison Doherty

from The Best Books We Read In August 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/31/riot-r...
...more

Aug 03, 2020 Connor rated it really liked it

[3.5 Stars. 4 Stars?]
When I first finished this, my gut reaction was to give it 4 stars. I enjoyed seeing Sunny learn about magic and herself as she's thrust into this high-stakes world of Leopard people and dangerous foes. I liked that this magical world is quite dangerous and the adults of this world don't try to coddle the children. I thought how magic manifested in each Leopard person was really interesting because it always had to do with some perceived fault which turned out to be one of t [3.5 Stars. 4 Stars?]
When I first finished this, my gut reaction was to give it 4 stars. I enjoyed seeing Sunny learn about magic and herself as she's thrust into this high-stakes world of Leopard people and dangerous foes. I liked that this magical world is quite dangerous and the adults of this world don't try to coddle the children. I thought how magic manifested in each Leopard person was really interesting because it always had to do with some perceived fault which turned out to be one of their strengths. I loved that the way to get ahead in this world is to continue to grow as a person and to learn as much as you can. All of that was really great.
After the House Salt Book Club live show though, I'm more leaning toward a 3.5 stars as we identified elements that didn't quite work.

Link to the live show (spoilers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4pB8...

I think my main hold up is that the main characters don't have much of a personal stake with confronting the antagonist, and it all happens/is resolved really quickly. I would have liked to see the characters get more personally invested in defeating the antagonist and have some sort of deadline that puts them under more pressure to get as prepared as possible. I still had a blast reading this however, and I plan to continue on and read Akata Warrior.
...more

I wasnt sure what to expect of Akata Witch. The title and cover tugged at me so bad, they are awesome! This is a middle grade series that works for all ages in my opinion. Im so glad I picked it up :D All thanks to Bookstagram~
Nnedi Okorafor creates a magical world where you follow a group of kids that form a strong friendship. And slowly you get to learn the magical culture of Nigeria. The country has beautiful names. And I loved that she used, I think, Nigerian words to describe things. It ha
I wasnt sure what to expect of Akata Witch. The title and cover tugged at me so bad, they are awesome! This is a middle grade series that works for all ages in my opinion. Im so glad I picked it up :D All thanks to Bookstagram~
Nnedi Okorafor creates a magical world where you follow a group of kids that form a strong friendship. And slowly you get to learn the magical culture of Nigeria. The country has beautiful names. And I loved that she used, I think, Nigerian words to describe things. It has an mysterious and adventurious setting, you follow the friends who are part of the magic people called the Leopard people. One of them, the main character Sunny is an Albino. She stands out. As she gets to know her new friends better she gets involved in magic. And weird ass shit starts to happen as she gets to know her true self. I love how Sunny and Chichi are strong females, very mouthy and direct :D

At some point it really felt like Ghibli's crazy magical and imaginative adventures!
...more

The final standoff was surprisingly short - but somehow I feel that that wasn't the main point of the book anyway. ;-) [prtf] The final standoff was surprisingly short - but somehow I feel that that wasn't the main point of the book anyway. ;-) [prtf] ...more

Phenomenal. Rich and cozy with that “it” quality that makes a book stay with you for a very long time. Highly recommend.

dnf
it's definitely not a bad book, but i just lost interest dnf
it's definitely not a bad book, but i just lost interest ...more

For a fantasy set in Nigeria, involving not only magic but violent serial murders, this book was remarkably dull. There was a lot of walking and expositing, and the setting, which could have been excitingly different from the genre-fallbacks, was oddly blank. Except for specific things which were described, I didn't get much sense of place. But my main complaint was the characters. I vaguely disliked most of them, but overall found them flat. Even when a teacher puts them in mortal danger they c For a fantasy set in Nigeria, involving not only magic but violent serial murders, this book was remarkably dull. There was a lot of walking and expositing, and the setting, which could have been excitingly different from the genre-fallbacks, was oddly blank. Except for specific things which were described, I didn't get much sense of place. But my main complaint was the characters. I vaguely disliked most of them, but overall found them flat. Even when a teacher puts them in mortal danger they come across as slightly annoyed rather than frightened or furious. I gave up at the scene where the kids are remarking with no perceptible emotion (fear, pity, disgust, give me something) on the kidnapping, torture and mutilation of a seven-year-old. ...more

Apr 23, 2014 Jim rated it it was amazing

I finished reading Nnedi Okorafor's YA fantasy Akata Witch on the flight to Colorado last week. I then recommended the book to a number of different people at the conference. It’s fun, interesting, fast-paced, and just plain good.
I’ve seen a few reviews that describe the book as being inspired by or too similar to Harry Potter. Both are coming-of-age stories about children who discover they have magic. Both protagonists explore a hidden magical community, and ultimately, they both have to face a
I finished reading Nnedi Okorafor's YA fantasy Akata Witch on the flight to Colorado last week. I then recommended the book to a number of different people at the conference. It’s fun, interesting, fast-paced, and just plain good.
I’ve seen a few reviews that describe the book as being inspired by or too similar to Harry Potter. Both are coming-of-age stories about children who discover they have magic. Both protagonists explore a hidden magical community, and ultimately, they both have to face a rather terrifying Big Bad. But none of these elements are new or unique to Harry Potter, and Okorafor’s story and worldbuilding are a refreshing change from most “magical teenager” stories.

I loved the characters, all of whom have distinctive personalities and voices, from Chichi’s bluntness to Sasha’s rebelliousness and American sensibilities to the different mentors and teachers Sunny meets. I also appreciated the excerpts from Fast Facts for Free Agents, a rather condescending but informative book about people like Sunny, who have non-magical parents. The book-in-a-book does a nice job of helping orient the reader while doing the same for Sunny.

It’s not all magic and soccer and fun, of course. Sunny’s world is harsh and unforgiving. The artistic wasp who creates a new sculpture each day will also sting you if you’re not suitably appreciative. Sunny risks being caned for disobeying the rules of magic, and her lessons are potentially deadly. At home, Sunny lives with an abusive father (making this the second YA book in a row I’ve read with an abusive father.) And then there’s Black Hat, a man who’s been murdering children, and whose magic is far stronger than that of Sunny or her friends…

The book is steeped in Nigerian culture and folklore, and recognizes real-world tensions and conflicts without ever feeling preachy. There’s a brief reference to 419 scams, acknowledgement of racism and prejudice in Nigeria and the U.S., and more.

My only nitpicks would be that the final confrontation with Black Hat felt a little quick, and I was disappointed to not see more of a resolution between Sunny and her father. But neither of these things took away from my enjoyment.

Like I said at the beginning of this review, I recommended this book a number of times over the weekend, and I’ll recommend it again. It’s a good story, well-written, with great characters and magic. And I’m happy to say that Okorafor has confirmed there will be additional books in this series.

Also recommended: A review of Akata Witch that discusses the cultural context and references in ways I’m not able to do, at http://igbocybershrine.com/2011/03/02...
...more

Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian-American author of African-based science fiction and fantasy (Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism). Okorafor has won a Hugo, a Nebula, a World Fantasy Award, and a Locus Award, and her many fans include Neil Gaiman, Rick Riordan, John Green, and Ursula Le Guin. She is writing a series for Marvel about Shuri, Black Panther’s sister, and has a number of book-based project Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian-American author of African-based science fiction and fantasy (Africanfuturism and Africanjujuism). Okorafor has won a Hugo, a Nebula, a World Fantasy Award, and a Locus Award, and her many fans include Neil Gaiman, Rick Riordan, John Green, and Ursula Le Guin. She is writing a series for Marvel about Shuri, Black Panther’s sister, and has a number of book-based projects in development for film and TV – including HBO’s adaptation of her novel Who Fears Death, with George R. R. Martin signed on as executive producer. Okorafor is also co-writing the screenplay of an adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Wild Seed with filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu for Amazon Prime Video, with Viola Davis producing. Her novel Akata Warrior (of the Akata Series) is the winner of the Lodestar and Locus Award for Best Young Adult Novel. ...more

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I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler-free way. Unfortunately, there is still always a risk of slight spoilers despite my best efforts. If you feel something in my review is a spoiler please let me know. Thank you.

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Nearly every library in the US has both a Kindle or Audio books component.Nearly every library in the US has both a Kindle or Audio books component. Rick Larimore
You can create an account with my Burbank Library and borrow the audio book
You can create an account with my Burbank Library and borrow the audio book as I did. Story telling is the original way humans conferred knowledge even before writing.
Hatchet is well told by a wonderful voice talent, Peter Coyote.
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Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books)

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Nearly every library in the US has both a Kindle or Audio books component.Nearly every library in the US has both a Kindle or Audio books component. Rick Larimore You can create an account with my Burbank Library and borrow the audio book You can create an account with my Burbank Library and borrow the audio book as I did.

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In the very beginning Kendra is wimpy and Seth is an idiot, but this is partially why the series is so good, because they grow. Kendra learns to be moIn the very beginning Kendra is wimpy and Seth is an idiot, but this is partially why the series is so good, because they grow. Kendra learns to be more courageous and Seth learns to respect those around him as well as the new world he lives in. Yes they will occasionally get on your nerves, but don't all realistic characters? Elisabeth Shaw...more (less)

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About The Book

The Great Bambino, The Sultan of Swat, The Titan of Terror...Babe Ruth was larger than life! Here is an illustrated history of baseball's most iconic figure.

Try to sum up the career of baseball legend Babe Ruth in fewer than 20 words, and the first two sentences on the Hall of Fame plaque that hangs in Cooperstown does so quite succinctly: Greatest drawing card in history of baseball. Holder of many home run and other batting records.The man known as the Great Bambino, however, represented far more than just numbers. As former teammate Joe Dugan once stated, "To understand him you had to understand this: He wasn't human." Offering the definitive look at Ruth's life both on and off the field, from his rough childhood through the larger-than-life persona he would eventually become, The Great Bambino is an intimate and beautifully illustrated portrait of a true American icon.

About The Author

Sam Chase's career in sports media peaked at its outset when he hosted trivia show Beat The Sam on Eastern Maine drive time sports radio as an adolescent. He's merely dabbled since then, having written and edited for Tennis Magazine, Athlon's NFL Draft Guide, and Sports Illustrated's gambling vertical. Sam lives in Chicago with his girlfriend Sophie and their earless cat Josie.

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About The Book The Great Bambino, The Sultan of Swat, The Titan of Terror...Babe Ruth was larger than life! Here is an illustrated history of baseball's most iconic figure. Try to sum up the career of baseball legend Babe Ruth in fewer than 20 words, and the first two sentences on the Hall of Fame plaque that hangs in Cooperstown does so quite succinctly: Greatest drawing card in history of baseball.

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"After the last shovel of dirt was patted in place, I sat down and let my mind drift back through the years. I thought of the old K. C. Baking Powder can, and the first time I saw my pups in the box at the depot. I thought of the fifty dollars, the nickels and dimes, and the fishermen and blackberry patches.

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The boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse

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The boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse

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It's hard to find the words for this one. Other people have though.
I am not a Pooh fan.
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...but it's just too twee for me.)

This to me is not twee. Okay, occasionally, but in the same way as The Beatles "All You Need is Love" is. Mmmm, that comparison feels so cozy.
(There's real music in here too, sheet music which I wish I could read. I haven't seen it addressed anywhere and if anyone reads this and ca...more

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The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

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It's hard to find the words for this one. Other people have though. I am not a Pooh fan. (Could those of you throwing stuff at me please stop? I'm just not. Sorry to pooh pooh Pooh......but it's just too twee for me.) This to me is not twee.

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When you're made of fire, do you feel guilty watching other people burn?

These Vengeful Hearts is essentially an alt universe Mean Girls with that same darkness, just take out the humor. The story revolves around a teen girl named Ember, who is seeking out revenge on the elusive Red Court who once upon a time hurt her older sister. The Red Court being a group of girls who do favors for people who request them, but at a steep cost. These favors range from exposing peoples secrets to helping th...more

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Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

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When you're made of fire, do you feel guilty watching other people burn? These Vengeful Hearts is essentially an alt universe Mean Girls with that same darkness, just take out the humor. The story revolves around a teen girl named Ember, who is seeking out revenge on the elusive Red Court who once upon a time hurt her older sister.

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I LOVED it! Cute, sweet, funny, awkward, charming, heartwarming, tear-rolling goodness. A beautiful exploration of the challenges of trying to find your place and fit in amongst peers while simultaneously being encouraged by family to embrace your differences and uniqueness. Though it's target audience is middle school readers, The Best at It is deep and complex but skillfully written in such a way as to be digestible for those readers and entertaining and immersive for readers of all ages.

The...more

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I LOVED it! Cute, sweet, funny, awkward, charming, heartwarming, tear-rolling goodness. A beautiful exploration of the challenges of trying to find your place and fit in amongst peers while simultaneously being encouraged by family to embrace your differences and uniqueness.

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Brotherband (Brotherband Chronicles in the U.S.) is a series of books written by John Flanagan. It centers around Hal Mikkelson and his crew, The Herons.

They are outcasts. Hal, Stig, and the other members of the brotherband - they are the boys the others want no part of. Skandians, as any reader of Ranger's Apprentice could tell you, are known for their size and strength. Not these boys.

Yet that doesn't mean they don't have skills. And courage - which they will need every ounce of to do battle at sea against the other bands, the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race. The icy waters make for a treacherous playing field... especially when not everyone thinks of it as playing.

John Flanagan, author of the international phenomenon Ranger's Apprentice, creates a new cast of characters to populate his world of Skandians and Araluens, a world millions of young readers around the world have come to know and admire. Full of seafaring adventures and epic battles, Book 1 of The Brotherband Chronicles is sure to thrill readers of Ranger's Apprentice while enticing a whole new generation just now discovering the books.

Hal and the Herons have done the impossible. This group of outsiders has beaten out the strongest, most skilled young warriors in all of Skandia to win the Brotherband competition. But their celebration comes to an abrupt end when the Skandians' most sacred artifact, the Andomal, is stolen--and the Herons are to blame.

To find redemption they must track down the thief Zavac and recover the Andomal. But that means traversing stormy seas, surviving a bitter winter, and battling a group of deadly pirates willing to protect their prize at all costs. Even Brotherband training and the help of Skandia's greatest warrior may not be enough to ensure that Hal and his friends return home with the Andomal--or their lives.

Hal and his brotherband crew are hot on the trail of the pirate Zavac and they have one thing only on their minds: Stopping the bloodthirsty thief before he can do more damage. Of course, they also know Zavac has the Andomal, the priceless Skandian artifact stolen when the brotherband let down their guard.

The chase leads down mighty rivers, terrifying rapids, to the lawless fortress of Ragusa. If Hal is to succeed, he will need to go beyond his brotherband training. He will need to challenge the pirate one-on-one, knowing only one of them will survive.

The epic series from Ranger's Apprentice author John Flanagan continues, delivering pulse-pounding adventure and fun.

Hal and his fellow Herons have returned home to Skandia after defeating the pirate captain Zavac and reclaiming Skandia's most prized artifact, the Andomal. With their honor restored, the Herons turn to a new mission: tracking down an old rival turned bitter enemy.

Tursgud-leader of the Shark Brotherband and Hal's constant opponent-has turned from a bullying youth into a pirate and slave trader. After Tursgud captures twelve Araluen villagers to sell as slaves, the Heron crew sails into action . . . with the help of one of Araluen's finest Rangers!

Hal, his Brotherband crew, and the Ranger Gilan have freed the twelve Araluens sold into slavery. Returning to Araluen, Gilan is given a new mission by King Duncan: protect his daughter's life. Princess Cassandra has survived one attempt on her life already, and now whispers of a second attempt have reached the kingdom. A deadly sect known as the Scorpion Cult is thought to be behind the assassination threat.

Not waiting to see if the knife will strike true, the Brotherband again team up with Gilan to track down the would-be killers.

In this fifth book in the Brotherband Chronicles, old friends reemerge to take on new enemies as the worlds of Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband join forces in battle!

When the Brotherband crew are caught in a massive storm at sea, they're blown far off course and wash up on the shores of a land so far west that Hal can't recognize it from any of his maps. Eerily, the locals are nowhere in sight, yet the Herons have a creeping feeling they are being watched.

Suddenly the silence is broken when a massive, marauding bear appears, advancing on two children. The crew springs into action and rescues the children from the bear's clutches, which earns them the gratitude and friendship of the local Mawagansett tribe, who finally reveal themselves.

But the peace is short-lived. The Ghostfaces, a ruthless, warlike tribe who shave their heads and paint their faces white, are on the warpath once more. It's been ten years since they raided the Mawagansett village, but they're coming back to pillage and reap destruction. As the enemy approaches, the Herons gear up to help their new friends repel an invasion.

In Hallasholm, Stig is contesting the annual Maktig competition to decide Skandia's greatest warrior. But a late-night knock on the door brings someone Stig never expected to see again, along with a request the Herons are hard-pressed to refuse: a rescue mission of epic proportions.

Across the ocean, the southern city-state of Byzantos is plagued by a crew of pirates who've kidnapped the son of Empress Justina. Slipping out of Hallasholm under the cover of darkness, the brotherband sets sail to recover the boy from his kidnappers, heading south to the island of Santorillos where a near-impenetrable fortress stands atop a cliff, surrounded by a lagoon-a caldera-formed by the crater of a volcano.

In this explosive seventh book in the action-packed Brotherband Chronicles, the Herons battle pirates amid stormy seas as the fate of an empire rests on their shoulders.

The Herons take to the high seas in the action-packed eighth installment of the Brotherband Chronicles, Brotherband: Return of the Temujai from John Flanagan, author of the internationally bestselling Ranger's Apprentice series!

The Herons are home in Skandia, but the usually peaceful country is in danger. The Temujai--ruthless warriors from the Eastern Steppes--have never given up on their ambition to claim Skandia for their own...and now they're on the move. Hal and his crew will have to brave the treacherous icy river and rapids to stop them, no matter the cost.

Climb aboard with the Herons in Return of the Temujai the exciting eighth installment of the Brotherband Chronicles!

The exciting next tale in the Brotherband Chronicles-following the Brotherband and their ship, the Heron, in a battle against an Iberian pirate raiding ship-from John Flanagan, author of the internationally bestselling Ranger's Apprentice series!

The Herons are home in Skandia-preparing to celebrate two of their own and working on sea trials in the newly constructed Heron. But during a short excursion, they encounter an Iberian pirate ship raiding the coast of Sonderland, so Hal and his crew take action.

Though the Herons quickly triumph, the Iberians voice their fury at the Herons, vowing to take revenge. And soon they do-raiding the harbor and stealing or destroying as many ships as they can. Though there is little proof the Iberians are behind it, the Herons take their ship, the only one that has survived the raid-and race after their enemy in hot pursuit. They will take down these pirates and get justice-no matter what.

Climb aboard with the Herons in The Stern Chase, the exciting ninth installment of the Brotherband Chronicles!

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Brotherband (Brotherband Chronicles in the U.S.) is a series of books written by John Flanagan. It centers around Hal Mikkelson and his crew, The Herons. Main article: The Outcasts They are outcasts. Hal, Stig, and the other members of the brotherband - they are the boys the others want no part of.

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"I didn't exactly fit in in Korea or America. I had become Korean American. And that was okay with me." representation: Korean (own voices). [trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers] ★★★★ Wow, I absolutely loved this. I couldn't put it down!

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I LOVED it! Cute, sweet, funny, awkward, charming, heartwarming, tear-rolling goodness. A beautiful exploration of the challenges of trying to find your place and fit in amongst peers while simultaneously being encouraged by family to embrace your differences and uniqueness. Though it's target audience is middle school readers, The Best at It is deep and complex but skillfully written in such a way as to be digestible for those readers and entertaining and immersive for readers of all ages.

The...more

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I LOVED it! Cute, sweet, funny, awkward, charming, heartwarming, tear-rolling goodness. A beautiful exploration of the challenges of trying to find your place and fit in amongst peers while simultaneously being encouraged by family to embrace your differences and uniqueness.

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The Crossover book. Read 319 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Kwame Alexander's The Crossover is brought to life as a graphic nove...

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Read 1,091 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rule...

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Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.

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Ever since The Boys in the Boat was first published, I have been traveling around the country talking to people about the story. When I first started, I quickly noticed that most of the people in my audiences were quite old. Some of them, in fact, were old enough to remember the events at the heart of the story, even though those events took place almost eighty years ago.

But lately something interesting has begun to happen. More and more young people have begun to show up at my book talks. Often these younger people join with the older people, coming up to the front of the room to have their books signed. Frequently they pause at the signing table just to tell me how much they enjoyed the story and what it means to them personally. It sometimes seems strange to me to have a ninety-year-old grandma and a twelve-year-old student standing next to each other in front of me at the signing table. But listening to what both groups of readers have to say about the story, I have begun to understand. Some things are timeless.

At first glance, this may seem to be a story about a time and place that is very different from the time and place you live in. After all, the young men at the center of this story dressed very differently than you and your friends do. They talked differently. They drove cars that look now as if they belong in museums. They sang songs that sound corny to our modern ears. They thought a radio was a marvel of modern technology. They lived through world events that now seem almost like ancient history.

But here's the thing. The boys in the boat were just that: boys. The problems they wrestled with were the same that you and your friends likely wrestle with today: family problems, making the team, succeeding at school, fitting in with other kids, learning whom you can and can't trust, finding a way to make some money, figuring out how you feel about the opposite sex, deciding who and what you want to be a few years down the road. Under the surface, they really weren't all that different.

None of that, though, is really what the young people who come up to me at book events want to talk about. What they recognize in the story-and what they want to share with me-is the sheer excitement of being young, having a goal, striving to accomplish that goal, and making it happen, just as the boys in the boat did. Sometimes they talk about their volleyball team winning the regionals. Sometimes they talk about making first violin in the school orchestra. Sometimes they talk about wanting to be the first in their family to go to college. Sometimes they talk about falling short of their goal but being inspired by the book to try again.

It is easy for those of us who are older and count ourselves wise to forget that it is the young who most often move the world forward. It is the young who have the boundless energy, passion, optimism, courage, and idealism to try to do what we elders might say is impossible. That's what the boys in the boat attempted to do in this story. That's why, eighty years later at my book-signing table, old men and women come to me with tears in their eyes, proudly remembering when they were young and full of fire. And it's why standing right next to them are young men and women with beaming faces, bearing tales of their own brave attempts at the near impossible.

So as you read this book, I hope you will keep in mind that at its heart this is a story about growing up, about wrestling with hope and doubt, about dreaming big, about going for the gold. In that sense, it's really a story about you.

Dawn row on Lake Washington.

This book is a true story. It was born on a cold, drizzly, late spring day, several years ago, when I climbed over a split-rail cedar fence and made my way to the modest house where Joe Rantz lay dying.

Joe was my neighbor Judy's father, and she had asked me to come down and meet him. I knew only two things about him when I knocked on her door that day. I knew that in his midseventies he had single-handedly hauled a number of cedar logs down a mountain, cut and split them by hand, then built the nearly half-mile-long pasture fence I had just climbed over. And I knew that he had been one of nine young men from the state of Washington who shocked both the sports world and Adolf Hitler by winning a gold medal in rowing at the 1936 Olympics.

When Judy opened the door and ushered me into her cozy living room, Joe was stretched out in a recliner with his feet up, all six foot three of him. He had a thin white beard, and his eyes were puffy. An oxygen tank stood nearby. Rain flecked a window that looked out into the wet woods. A fire was popping and hissing in the woodstove. Jazz tunes from the 1930s and 1940s were playing quietly on the stereo.

Judy introduced me, and Joe offered me an extraordinarily long, thin hand. We talked for a while. Joe's voice was thin and reedy, not much more than a whisper. When the conversation began to turn to his own life, I leaned closer and took out my notepad. I was surprised at first, then astonished, at what this man had endured and overcome in his life. But it wasn't until he began to talk about his rowing career that he started, from time to time, to cry. He talked about learning the art of rowing, about the sleek and delicate wooden boats known as "shells," about tactics and techniques. He told stories about long, cold hours on the water under steel-gray skies, about smashing victories, and about marching under Adolf Hitler's eyes into the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. But it was when he tried to talk about "the boat" that the tears really welled up in his bright eyes.

At first I didn't know what he meant by "the boat." I thought he meant the Husky Clipper, the racing shell in which he had rowed his way to glory. Then I thought he meant his crewmates. Eventually I realized that "the boat" was something more than just the shell or its crew. To Joe, it was something bigger than that, something mysterious and almost beyond definition. It was a shared experience, a golden moment long ago, when he had been part of something much larger than himself. Joe was crying partly for the loss of that moment, but much more for the sheer beauty of it.

A Washington crew working out, circa 1929.

As I was preparing to leave that afternoon, Judy removed Joe's gold medal from the glass case against the wall and handed it to me. The medal had vanished once, years before. The family had searched high and low, then given it up for lost before they finally found it, buried in some insulating material in the attic. A squirrel had apparently taken a liking to the glimmer of the gold and hidden the medal away in its nest. As Judy was telling me this, it occurred to me that Joe's story, like the medal, had been squirreled away out of sight for too long.

I shook Joe's hand and told him I would like to come back and talk to him some more. I said that I'd like to write a book about his rowing days. Joe grasped my hand again and said he'd like that, but then his voice broke once more. "But not just about me," he whispered. "It has to be about the boat."

The Washington shell house, 1930s.

1

On a sunny October afternoon in 1933, two young men, taller than most, hurried across the University of Washington's campus. The school was perched on a bluff overlooking the still waters of Seattle's Lake Washington. A gray, overcast morning had given way to a radiant day, and students were lounging on the grass in front of the massive new stone library, eating, chatting, and studying. But the two boys, both freshmen in their first weeks of college, did not stop. They were on a mission.

One of them, six-foot-three Roger Morris, had a loose, gangly build, dark hair, and heavy black eyebrows. The other, Joe Rantz, was a pencil tip shorter, but more solidly built, with broad shoulders, powerful legs, and a strong jaw. He wore his blond hair in a crew cut and watched the scene through gray eyes verging into blue.

The boys, who had recently met in engineering class, rounded the library and descended a long grassy slope. They crossed Montlake Boulevard, dodging a steady stream of black automobiles. After a few more turns they followed a dirt road running through open woods and into a marshy area at the edge of Lake Washington. As they walked they began to overtake other boys headed in the same direction.

Finally they came to a point of land jutting out into the water. An odd-looking building stood there, an old airplane hangar covered with weather-beaten shingles and inset with enormous windows. The sides slanted up toward the roof. At the front, a wide wooden ramp stretched from enormous sliding doors to a long floating dock. Lake Washington spread out to the east. The canal known as the Cut stretched to the west, connecting to Portage Bay and the calm waters of Lake Union.

A crowd of young men, 175 in all, milled about nervously. They were mostly tall and lean, like Joe and Roger, though a dozen or so were noticeably short and slight. And they all shared the same goal. They wanted to make the University of Washington's freshman rowing team.

A handful of current team members, older boys wearing white jerseys emblazoned with large purple W s, stood with their arms crossed, eyeing the newcomers, sizing them up. Joe and Roger stepped inside the building. Along each wall of the cavernous room, the long, sleek racing shells were stacked four high on wooden racks. With their polished wooden hulls turned upward, they gleamed in white shafts of light that fell from the windows overhead. Faded but still colorful banners from rival colleges hung from the rafters. Dozens of spruce oars, each ten to twelve feet long and tipped with a white blade, stood on end in the corners of the room. The air was dry and still. It smelled sweetly of varnish and freshly sawn cedar. The sound of someone working with a wood rasp came from the back, up in a loft.

Joe and Roger signed in, then returned to the bright light outside and sat on a bench, waiting for instructions. Joe glanced at Roger, who seemed relaxed and confident.

"Aren't you nervous?" Joe whispered.

Roger glanced back at him. "I'm panicked. I just look like this to demoralize the competition." Joe smiled briefly, too close to panic himself to hold the smile long.

For Joe, more than anyone else there, something important hung in the balance that day, and it was more than a spot on the crew. He already felt as if he didn't fit in with most of the other students on campus. Most of the young men around him were city boys dressed neatly in freshly pressed woolen slacks and expensive cardigan sweaters. Their fathers were doctors and lawyers. They were mostly unbothered by the problems plaguing so much of the country that fall.

America was in the fourth year of the Great Depression. Ten million people had no job and no prospect of finding one. No one knew when the hard times might end. As many as two million people were homeless. In downtown Seattle that morning, hungry men stood in long lines waiting for soup kitchens to open. Others prepared to spend the day trying to sell apples and oranges for a few pennies apiece. Down by the waterfront, in a crowded shantytown called Hooverville, mothers huddled over campfires and children awoke in damp cardboard boxes that served as their beds.

Seattle's Hooverville.

Joe himself had been on his own for years, with no one at home to support him. Every day he wore the same old wrinkled hand-me-down sweater and the same dusty old shoes. He had worked for a year after high school to save up enough money to pay for his first year of college. Yet his savings were probably not going to last. If he ran out of money, there was a good chance he'd have to drop out of school, head back to his small, bleak hometown, and look forward to a life of odd jobs, foraging in the woods for food, and living alone in a cold, half-finished house. A spot on the freshman crew could prevent that. Each rower was guaranteed a part-time job on campus. That job might just bring in enough money to get Joe through four years of school. Then he could earn an engineering degree and find a good job. If all went well, he could marry his high school sweetheart, a bright, pretty girl named Joyce who stood by him no matter what.

But making the team was not going to be easy. Within a few short weeks, only a handful of the 174 boys gathered around him would still be contenders for seats in the first freshman boat. That was the one Joe felt he needed to be in to guarantee his place on the team. In the end, there were only nine seats in the boat.

Harry, Fred, Nellie, and Joe Rantz, circa 1917.

2

The path Joe followed down to the shell house that afternoon was only the last few hundred yards of a much longer, harder, and at times darker journey.

Joe was the second son of Harry Rantz and Nellie Maxwell. Harry was a big man, well over six feet tall, large in the hands and feet. He was a tinkerer and inventor, a dreamer of big dreams. In his spare time he loved to work with his hands and build contraptions of all kinds. He fiddled with machines, took apart mechanical devices in order to understand them. He even designed and built his own version of an automobile from scratch. Nellie Maxwell was a piano teacher and the daughter of a preacher. They had their first child, Fred, in 1899. Seven years later, looking for a place where Harry could make his mark on the world, they headed west from Pennsylvania, crossed the country, and settled down in Spokane, Washington.

The town was surrounded by ponderosa pine forest and open range country. The summers were crackling hot, the air dry and perfumed with the vanilla scent of ponderosa bark. In the autumn, towering dust storms would blow in from the wheat country to the west. The winters were bitter cold, the springs stingy and slow in coming. The Rantz family moved into a small frame house on the north side of the cold, clear Spokane River, and Joe was born there in March of 1914.

Harry set up an automobile shop. Each morning he rose at four thirty to go to work, and often he didn't return home until well after seven in the evening. It was hard work, but his business did well and he was able to buy his family nice things. Nellie taught piano to neighborhood children and doted on her sons, lavishing love on them and watching over them carefully.

On Sunday mornings the family attended church together, then spent the day relaxing. Sometimes they just walked into town to buy freshly made peach or strawberry ice cream. Sometimes they drove out to a nearby lake, where they could rent boats and explore the shoreline or spend a hot afternoon swimming or sitting on the grassy banks enjoying a picnic. But the best part for Joe was when they went to Natatorium Park in the cool shade of the cottonwood trees down by the river. Something interesting and fun was always going on there. They could watch a baseball game or listen to a John Philip Sousa band concert. What Joe particularly loved was when his parents would put him on the park's spectacular new carousel and he could ride, whirling around and around on the back of a carved tiger or elegant horse under the carousel's dazzling lights.

Young Joe.

But when Joe was just about to turn four, this dream life shattered. His memories of what happened next were a kaleidoscope of broken images. He remembered his mother standing by his side in an overgrown field, coughing violently into a handkerchief, and the handkerchief turning bright red with blood. He remembered a doctor with a black leather bag. He remembered sitting on a hard church pew swinging his legs while his mother lay in a box at the front of the church and would not get up. He remembered lying on a bed with his big brother, Fred, perched on the edge. He remembered Fred talking softly about dying and about angels and about needing to go to college and about how Joe would have to go east to stay with relatives in Pennsylvania. He remembered sitting quietly alone on a train for long days and nights, with blue mountains and green muddy fields and rusty rail yards and dark cities full of smokestacks all flashing past the window by his seat. He remembered meeting a woman who said she was his aunt Alma and then, almost immediately, becoming terribly sick. He remembered lying for weeks in a bed in an unfamiliar attic room with the shades always pulled. No Ma, no Pa, no Fred. Only the lonely sound of a train now and then, and a strange room spinning around him. Plus the beginnings of a new heaviness, a feeling of doubt and fear pressing down on his small shoulders and congested chest.

As he lay ill with scarlet fever in the attic of a woman he did not really know, the world he had known back in Spokane dissolved. His brother had gone off to finish college. His mother was dead of cancer. His father had fled to Canada, unable to cope with his wife's terrible death.

Joe's mother, Nellie.

A little more than a year later, in the summer of 1919, his brother called for him, and five-year-old Joe rode the train back across the country again all by himself. Although he was only twenty, Fred had married and found a good job, and he took care of his little brother for the next two years. By that point, their father, Harry, had returned from Canada, married a young woman named Thula LaFollette, and built a new house in Spokane.

Harry in a car he built.

For Joe, that meant still more change. Soon he was moving to another new home, living with a father he hardly remembered and a stepmother he did not know at all. But at least it was a real home, and in time this new life began to feel normal. The house was spacious and well lit. Out back there was a swing with a wide seat big enough for him and his father and Thula to ride three at a time on warm summer nights. He could walk to school, cutting through a field where he would sometimes snatch a sweet ripe melon for an after-school snack. He dug long, elaborate underground tunnels in the vacant lots nearby, and spent long, cool afternoons in them escaping Spokane's searing, dry summer heat. And the new house was always filled with music. Harry had kept Nellie's most precious possession, her piano, and he delighted in sitting at the keys with Joe. Harry pounded out popular tunes as his son, perched on the bench next to him, gleefully sang along. Although she was an accomplished violinist, Thula did not join in. She didn't like the often corny music Harry and Joe chose, and she was not particularly happy to have Nellie's piano in her house.

In January 1922, Harry and Thula had a boy named Harry Junior, and the following year they had another son, Mike. With his family growing and more mouths to feed, Harry had to take a job at a gold mine in Idaho some 140 miles away. He'd work there during the week, then make the long drive home on the weekends.

During one of these weekend visits, in the middle of a dark, moonless night, nine-year-old Joe suddenly awoke to the smell of smoke. He heard flames crackling somewhere in the house. He snatched up baby Mike, grabbed Harry Junior, and stumbled out of the house with his little half brothers. His father and Thula burst out of the house in singed nightclothes a few moments later. Once he saw that his boys were safe, Harry dashed back into the smoke and flames. Several minutes passed before he reappeared. With the fire raging behind him, he was pushing Nellie's piano inch by inch out through a garage door. He had risked his life to save the last thing he had left from his first marriage. Now, as Joe stood and watched their home burn to the ground, he had that same feeling he'd experienced in his aunt's dark attic years before. The same coldness, fear, and insecurity. Home, it was beginning to seem to him, was something you couldn't necessarily count on.

George Pocock, Rusty Callow (Washington coach before Ulbrickson), Ky Ebright, and Al Ulbrickson.

3

The Washington shell house would eventually become a kind of home to Joe Rantz, but on the first day of practice he and the other freshmen did not even row. The afternoon was largely consumed by the collection of facts and figures. Joe and Roger and all the other hopefuls were told to step onto scales, to stand next to measuring sticks, to fill out forms detailing their medical backgrounds. Assistant coaches and older students carrying clipboards st

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the boys in the boat (young readers adaptation): the true story of an american team's epic journey to win gold at the 1936 olympics

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juvenile nonfiction / history / united states / 20th century

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juvenile nonfiction / sports & recreation / olympics

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juvenile nonfiction / sports & recreation / water sports

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juvenile nonfiction/history - united states - 20th century

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juvenile nonfiction/history - united states - state & local

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juvenile nonfiction/sports & recreation - water sports

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university of washington - rowing - history

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wwii; world war ii; ww2; olympics; great depression; olympic games; sports; pbs; history; american history; non fiction books for kids age 9 12; kids books ages 9-12; boat; nonfiction books for ages 9 12; young adult books for boys; world war 2 books; ww 2; world war 2; ww2 books; world war ii books; wwii books; ww2 book; world war 2 books for kids; books for 10 year old boys; biographies for kids age 9 12; boats; books for boys age 9 12; chapter books for kids age 9-12; seabiscuit books; seabiscuit book; adaptation

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juvenile nonfiction / history / united states / 20th century

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juvenile nonfiction / sports & recreation / olympics

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juvenile nonfiction / sports & recreation / water sports

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juvenile nonfiction/history - united states - 20th century

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juvenile nonfiction/history - united states - state & local

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juvenile nonfiction/sports & recreation - water sports

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The Boys in the Boat (Young Readers Adaptation): The True Story of an American Team's Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics

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The Boys in the Boat (Young Readers Adaptation): The True Story of an American Team's Epic Journey to Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics - Kindle edition by Brown, Daniel James. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets.

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March 10, 2021: A middle-grade based on a southeast asian mythology where "a Hmong girl discovers she's a powerful shaman warrior". September suddenly sounds too far away because I can't wait!...more

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March 10, 2021: A middle-grade based on a southeast asian mythology where "a Hmong girl discovers she's a powerful shaman warrior". September suddenly sounds too far away because I can't wait!...more

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Read this book! Whether you are 8 or 88, grab this book, read it and hug it at the end. Palacio has written another sure to be classic. Pony is the story of Silas, a 12 year old boy who goes looking for his father after strange men take him away in the middle of the night. When a pony shows up at his door, Silas decides to go looking for his father.
Between this and the novel's conclusion, you will be enthralled, excited and emotional. This really is a perfect book. I LOVED IT!...more

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Read this book! Whether you are 8 or 88, grab this book, read it and hug it at the end. Palacio has written another sure to be classic. Pony is the story of Silas, a 12 year old boy who goes looking for his father after strange men take him away in the middle of the night.

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Playing the Cards You're Dealt book. Read 118 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Literary powerhouse and Coretta Scott King Honor- a...

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Read 26.4k reviews from the world’s largest community for readers. Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-s…

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At first, this book was a DNF. I was not a good enough reader yet, and I had no respect for steampunk. How wrong I was. I flew(ha) through this, happy and in anticipation the whole time. By the time I picked it back up again, a few months later, I had been introduced to Uglies and Impostors...
I love love love alternate history, and Westerfeld turned World War 1 into a fight between mechanics and animal lovers(poor explanation alert). Everything was so well explained that I could envision every m...more

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David - proud Gleeman in Branwen's adventuring party

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At first, this book was a DNF. I was not a good enough reader yet, and I had no respect for steampunk. How wrong I was. I flew(ha) through this, happy and in anticipation the whole time.

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Read 13.2k reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Twelve-year-old Artemis Fowl is a millionaire, a genius, and above all, a criminal maste...

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I have to say, I didn't enjoy this series quite as much as PJO, but I would say it gets better. I ended up really liking it, especially the third bookI have to say, I didn't enjoy this series quite as much as PJO, but I would say it gets better. I ended up really liking it, especially the third book. Plus, there is a crossover series between this and Percy Jackson! ...more (less)

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Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

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The Red Pyramid (The Kane Chronicles, #1)

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I have to say, I didn't enjoy this series quite as much as PJO, but I would say it gets better. I ended up really liking it, especially the third bookI have to say, I didn't enjoy this series quite as much as PJO, but I would say it gets better.