Akata Witch

Akata Witch Series, Book 1

By: Nnedi Okorafor

Narrated by: Yetide Badaki

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Twelve-year-old Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born American. Her features are African, but she has albinism. She's a terrific athlete but can't go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be no place where she fits in.

And then she discovers something amazing - she is a "free agent" with latent mystical power. Soon she's part of a quartet of students studying the visible and invisible, learning to change reality. But will it be enough to help them when they are asked to catch a career criminal well-versed in powerful juju?

©2017 Nnedi Okorafor (P)2018 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Nnedi Okorafor is opening doors into strange and beautiful new worlds. Her heroes are beguiling, her magic firmly rooted in real places and real things. Rich, mysterious, and convincing, Akata Witch takes fantasy in a haunting new direction." (Jonathan Stroud, New York Times best-selling author of The Bartimaeus Trilogy)

imaginative!

Harry Potter like, but set in Nigeria. Plot moved at a great pace and the narrator was EXCELLENT. So nice to have someone who pronounces names and reflects accents properly.

Great world building, plot a bit thin

Akata Witch is the fourth book by Nnedi Okorafor that I have read in about 18 months and I will keep reading Okorafor’s books.

Nnedi Okorafor is a writing professor at University of Buffalo. She is exactly one year younger than I am. Her parents came to the US from Nigeria for school. Okorafor was born in the US but moved back and forth between Nigeria and the US as a child and teen. According to Wikipedia, Okorafor was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13 and at 19, due to a rare complication, was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. It was during this time of paralysis that she started writing. She eventually went on to get a Masters in Journalism and a Masters and PhD in English Literature.

Okorafor and several others, primarily women authors, have become known for writing science fiction and fantasy from a distinctly African or Caribbean perspective. I have not read widely in this area yet, but American Street and Akata Witch certainly are examples of Magical Realism in modern Fantasy and come from a distinctly non-US/European cultural perspective.

Part of what is interesting to me about the Magical Realism, at least as I have read it so far is that it is often based on a religious overlay. That religious overlay may be construed as magical in the Magical Realism, but the different cultural backgrounds are rooted in their different religious backgrounds, even if they are not serious about the faith aspects of that religious background.

Akata Witch is about Juju in a somewhat similar way that American Street was rooted in Voodoo and Larurs was rooted in Orthodox Christianity. Juju provides the backstory to the fantasy world that is at the heart of Akata Street.

In the book description, Akata Witch is been described as Nigerian Harry Potter, but I do not think you really need to describe it in that way. Sunny is 12 years old. She was born in the US to a lawyer and doctor parents, but returned to Nigeria when she was 9. She is albino and cannot go out into the sun without an umbrella for protection. That, in addition to her American influenced accent and culture, alienates her from others her age.

Eventually she discovers that she is one of the Leopard People. A world wide group of magical humans. She is a ‘free agent’, one that did not grow up within the home of Leopard People parents and culture. Akata Witch uses excerpts from a book on ‘Free Agents’ as a way of developing the world around Sunny and dropping information to the reader. It worked in the audiobook, but I think it may have been more effective in print.

I really enjoyed the book. But the strength of the book was the world building. The plot is a bit thin. The final climax was very short and felt rushed. It is also hard to keep Sunny at 12 years old in my head. Much of the time I think she is acting older. Maybe she is just mature for her age, but I think it is a weakness.

Akata Witch is the start of a series. The second book, Akata Warrior, was released in 2017 (six years after Akata Witch), but the audiobook won’t be release until December 2018. I think I am going to wait for the audiobook. I was not fond of the narration of Binti and read the rest of that series on Kindle. But the narration of Akata Witch was excellent.

Brilliant!

Best YA novel I’ve ever read (listened to). Okorafor is simply brilliant. A must read!

Spellbinding! Such an original voice!

It was so awesome to listen to this and hear such a difference in magical education. To feel included in a story is wonderful, but it's even better when the talent is so rich. This writer is definitely going to be on my list for future reads!

Wonderful!

A wonderful relaxing read. Characters so rich and story so completely engaging!!! Enjoyed it so much! Recommend it highly!

Awesome! I can't wait for the next book!

Extremely well written and narrated. I fell in love with character. Vivid details and engrossing plot. The integration of African and African American life and Spirituality between worlds without any sense of pretension. More stories like these should be told.

Excellent story of empowerment!

Akata Witch kept my attention and did not disappoint. The story was engaging, and the narration enhanced an already great tale.

Loved it!!!!

Fantastic, I will do this book again. I loved everything about this book, especially Yetide Badaki, fabulous narration

i enjoyed every mintue

each chactetor was well developed by the author and the narrator gave them vivid life from the beginning to the end. iam excited for more of the story in book 2

AMAZING!!!!!!

I loved the book it made me laugh so hard gasp in anticipation feel like I was dancing in a forest hanging out with friends in Nigeria learning magic I would gladly read this book again and again