English language

Published Aug. 7, 2011 by Viking.

ISBN:
978-0-670-01196-4
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (37 reviews)

Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.

3 editions

Non-Western Fantasy is So Refreshing

4 stars

A very interesting and fun fantasy perspective on voodoo and non-western witchcraft! I love Okorafor's writing, and its non-western flavor is always delightful and intriguing. This story had some American characters that served as a lens of sorts, and I almost wish it wasn't that way because being thrust into well-established worlds where you as the reader are initiated into it by reading is more fun to me.

Anyway, it's worth taking a look!

Review of 'Akata Witch' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I picked up this YA book because it was being recommended as an alternative to Harry Potter, and indeed there are quite a few similarities in plot: tweenage protagonist suddenly discovers she's a magic-user, living in a world divided between leopards (wizards) and lambs (muggles) and bands up with plucky fellow students to save the world from the evil sorceror Black Hat Otokoto (Voldemort) who has ties in the past with protagonist's dead relatives. Oh and there's a magic bus ride and a magic village where only the wizards, sorry leopards, can visit and shop, and protagonist turns out to be exceptionally gifted at the sport that the kids are all obsessed with, etc....

All that aside though, it is very strongly based on African mythology and "juju" magic and definitely does not have the look and feel of the middle-class-English Harry Potter attending Hogwarts. The protagonist is Sunny, an …

Review of 'Akata Witch' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I'd had this book on my wishlist for quite some time. Binti became available at my library before Akata Witch did, and so I read that. After reading Binti, I added all of Okorafor's books to my wishlist. Her writing is engaging, her world-building is wonderful, and her characters are almost real. I found a copy at a used bookstore and onto my Mt. TBR it went.

While the title of the book draws some controversy, I can't speak to it as a white American. However, this is an excellent book and a discussion about people's feelings on the title should be a part of any book discussion.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody who enjoys fantasy or urban fantasy. If you like Harry Potter, as a child, adolescent, or adult, you'll probably enjoy this book. It is not a knock-off, the parallels run only so far as …

avatar for ansate

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Elspeth

rated it

4 stars
avatar for drb

rated it

4 stars
avatar for NC

rated it

4 stars
avatar for kergoth

rated it

4 stars
avatar for daNanner@bookrastinating.com

rated it

5 stars
avatar for jdb

rated it

3 stars
avatar for kataract

rated it

4 stars
avatar for thebbennett

rated it

2 stars
avatar for mrkvm

rated it

4 stars
avatar for MandolinDan

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Reynard_Fox

rated it

5 stars
avatar for AudientVoid

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Dvmheather

rated it

3 stars
avatar for parsnip

rated it

4 stars
avatar for karlhungus

rated it

5 stars
avatar for reiacorn

rated it

5 stars
avatar for Andykz

rated it

4 stars
avatar for Underbroen

rated it

3 stars
avatar for billiamthesecond

rated it

1 star
avatar for wyrdnis

rated it

5 stars

Subjects

  • Supernatural
  • Serial murderers
  • Magic
  • Albinos and albinism
  • Fiction

Places

  • Nigeria