Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor

Before I say anything else I’d like to say that I enjoy Akata Witch more than the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series and I believe its kind of a lame to compare Akata to them (which I've seen a lot of people do). A possible reason for my enjoyment in this is how refreshing the work is in its world-building, cultural aspects, and use of magic & other fantasy elements. But I digress.

Akata Witch as a store has some extremely compelling characters and situations that the work explores. The power (literally and metaphorically) that comes from the matriarchal figures in the story is awesome to see and the young girls also radiate an aura of confidence and strength, while still being real flawed and growing characters. The story tackles somewhat normal themes while in this world of Nigeria and magic that keeps even somewhat cookie-cutter situations seem fresh and interesting to read. Whether it’s coming of age, moving to a new place, wanting to make friends, wanting to play sports, etc. it’s interesting to see Nigerian culture and this idea of voodoo/juju and magic mixed into it. Speaking of Juju, the manifestation of magic in this story is one of my favorite and more refreshing aspects to the story, no wands (unless you count the knives), broomsticks, and black cats. Something that I thought was super interesting to explore was the idea of Albinism in African societies and the baggage that carries. Coming from America to live a new place plus having a cultural and physically significate abnormality adds more depth to the whole story. I will be exploring more of her books in the future.